Ediri EJOH,

Some customers in the Ikota area of Lagos, under the Oshodi Business Unit of Ikeja Electric have lauded the aggressive metering embarked upon by the distribution company, saying they now pay for what they consume.

This development comes as Ikeja Electric embarks on massive deployment of new smart pre-payment meters, as instructed by the industry regulators, the Nigerian Electricity regulatory Commission, NERC.

The company’s spokesman, Mr. Felix Ofulue, said over 43,500 customers had been metered in the last two months, adding that the new smart meters were issued to customers for free.

He also said that in some cases where the technicians discovered that the cables used in connecting to the mains are not appropriate, they were replaced without charging the customers.

A landlord at Itunu Ayo-Ade Street, in Ago-palace, Mr. Olusola Oladipupo, said: “The amazing thing about the scheme is that we were not made to pay anything to be metered, which is new to me since I came to Lagos. The new pre-paid meter is better than the previously distributed ones. For the new meters, we pay for what is used, whether there is power supply or not.

“Prior to this time, I had called the distribution companies 419 because of the manner in which they extorted us. But with the present development, we pay for what was used and not the other way round. However, we are constantly appealing for increase in power supply to help our businesses and other use.”

Another landlord at Adesina Street, at Okuta, Mr. Adewale Alexandra, said: “The pre-paid meter is a welcome development, this is because, I barely stay at home and I won’t be forced to pay unnecessary bills. Also, it has made things easy for us because we can recharge through our phones. Though, we had issues with recharging but these were sorted out and since then it’s been fantastic.

“It has also helped landlords around this area because now tenants would have to pay before they packed out from the house, instead of leaving other tenants to inherit their outstanding bills.

On his part, Mr Mike Anyadioha, a retiree of UBA, charged Nigerians to be energy conservative rather than wasting these resources unnecessarily. According to him, ‘My house was metered at the end of January this year. It is a good experience because I can recharge by myself and what I recharge is what I consumed and no more estimated billings as was the case in the past.

“This scheme should be encouraged and also go round to other areas. I was only asked to fill a form and not been charged for anything. We were not giving conditions but in order to help the scheme, the Disco either placed the meters at the poles or the top of your house so no one could play smart with it and that is a good idea.

“I encourage the Discos to meter all Nigerians so we could escape from this menace of crazy bills”.