THE Management of Ikeja Electric has blamed the current very poor power supply situation across its network to low power allocation from the National Grid. The Chief Executive Officer, of the distribution company, Mr. Abiodun Ajifowobaje, was quoted as saying in a statement that in the last one week, the average power allocation to Ikeja Electric is 350 megawatts, MW, against minimum load demand of 1,250MW.

Ajifowobaje explained that the huge shortfall is seriously affecting the operation of the company, as it has to resort to load-shedding, and assured that the power allocation will be equitably distributed among all its customers. While appealing for customers’ understanding, he also said that efforts have been stepped up to ensure that electrical faults are cleared promptly, and urged customers to report such through its contact centre and other branch offices.

In another development, Ajifowobaje decried the activities of individuals who connect electricity illegally into their premises without paying their bills. Describing such persons as “energy thieves”, he explained that their activities affect the billing of other customers, “as the energy allocated to an area is measured and people may be paying for the power being consumed by the energy thieves.

“We have put a process in place to migrate individuals involved in this practice into our network. However, we seek the cooperation of community leaders and customers in our efforts to eradicate energy theft and ensure quality service delivery for all customers within the Ikeja Electric network,” he added.