Electricity consumers in Kwara state are currently owing the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company of Nigeria (IBEDEC), PLC, a disturbing sum of over N50 billion, said its management on Tuesday in Ilorin.

Speaking at a Stakeholders meeting in Ilorin the company’s Lead Media Relations, Olori Busolami Tunwase who represented the company’s Managing Director disclosed that electricity consumers in Jebba topped the chat with an outstanding of N25.8 billion.

Giving a breakdown of the company’s revenue loss data
she said consumers in Baboko followed with N18.9 billion while those in the challenged district owed the sum of N7.4 billion.

Olori Tunwase regretted that the huge debt profile from Kwara is hindering the company from fulfilling its obligations to its market operators, assuring “that when payments are made service will definitely improve.”

She also advised consumers of electricity who intended to procure new pre-paid metres to shun third parties so as not to be caught in the web of illicit metres assuring that IBEDEC will flood the market with metres.

She further urged the teaming consumers of IBEDEC to shun energy theft and meter bypassing, warning that penalty according to the newly signed Act by President Tinubu is now a Jail term.

Olori Tunwase who said that no amount of jail term could equate to safety of life warned that those involved in the unscrupulous act should stay away from it because it could also cost them their lives.

IBEDEC’S Regional Manager, Engineer Gabriel Eze in his remark said the huge junk of the outstanding were from government ministries, departments and agencies including the Nigeria Air force, Navy and Army.

Eze also said that currently, meetings are ongoing with the heads of the concerned agencies who are disposed to working out how to pay the debt.

Kwara state Chairman Nigerian Electricity Regulations Commission (NERC), Ajanaku Adeleke in his address said his commission is daily being inundated with poor attitudes of IBEDEC’s staff towards electricity consumers urging the management to call their staff to order.

Ajanaku urged aggrieved members of the public to approach the commission for possible resolution of their grievances instead of rushing to court.

Many among the consumers in the gathering also raised several complaints among which are poor services of IBEDEC and the management, always claiming ownership with its unscrupulous attitudes of collecting receipts used to buy Transformer materials by various communities which often replaced their stolen Transformers.

Recall that the management of IBEDC in May alerted electricity consumers within it franchise area to expect an imminent blackout in June due to a backlog of unpaid electricity bills.

It said the market operator, a unit in the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), was planning to disconnect its feeders from the national grid due to poor remittances.