Kwara residents lament over alleged extortions by IBEDC

Residents of Kwara State have raised the alarm on alleged extortion by Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).

The residents expressed their lamentation at a town hall meeting held at NUJ hall, Ilorin, facilitated by Wadata Media and Advocacy Centre with support from the MacArthur Foundation said the Electricity Company are extortion them through over billing and shifting their responsibilities to consumers by making them buy materials.

Speaking Mr Lanre Osho said “with the largest number of electricity consumers off-grid, the IBEDC are cheating consumers with over billing and also accused them of Shifting official responsibilities to consumers by making them buy transformers, poles, wires etc. without any plan to refund the monies spent and still turn the materials to IBEDC property.”

Another speaker, Barrister Shina Ibiyemi Also identified tariff bands as a major conduit for corruption and said “there is no basis for having different Band when in actual fact that electricity supply to all the Tariff Band is in comatose, added that IBEDC has failed to adhere to service-based tariffs by not providing expected hours of power supply expected on the tariff band being charged to consumers.”

Also speaking, the president of Nigerian Workers’ Group, Dr. David Kayode Ehindero called for more awareness programmes on how to end alleged manipulation by Electricity Distribution Companies and similar service providers

Meanwhile, a representative from the Offa community Dr. Olusegun Ogungboye spoke on their experience with the now-transferred manager and urged the participants and members of other communities in the state to follow steps by setting up a community committee on electricity that will oversee their challenges and take a collective action said it’s the only way they can end what he described as unwarranted cheating by IBEDC.

Earlier in his opening address the executive director/project manager of WAMAC, Zubair Abdurra’uf Idris said the town hall was organized to discuss issues of corruption that beclouded all facets of county sectors.

“This town hall is not design to castigate anyone but rather an opportunity to discuss with stakeholders on menace of corruption and how it affects governance and wellbeing of Nigerians.”

A renowned player in electricity sector, Engr. Umar Abdullahi Komba spoke on the theme of the meeting ‘Systematic corruption in public and private sectors: a deep dive into electricity sector in Kwara State’ as a guest speaker.

The meeting had in attendance a representative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Mr. Olowoniyi Ishola, who charged the participants to always contribute their part to the fight against corruption through information volunteering and petition.