February 25, 2018

The Management of Ikeja Electric (IE) on Sunday, commenced a weekend consultative forum to get closer to its consumers complaints as regard to overbilling, metering and other related problems.

Mr Olajide Kumapayi, the Business Manager, Ikeja Business Unit told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the forum in Ojodu, Lagos that the strategy was also to get closer to the consumers.

According to Kumapayi, there is a lot of agitation in terms of billing, metering and other issues consumers of electricity in area are going through that they do not know the basic process of resolving.

“So, what we decided to do is to take out a week in a month and we are starting here in Ojodu Undertaking, to be able to take the issues to them.

“We want to give them opportunity to hear the numerous works Ikeja Electric has done and hear their feedback and most importantly, resolve the issues in a target fashion.

“We believe that after this session, the consumers will have confidence in the system and they will know the process of their complaints, because most of them do not know the right place to lodge their complaints.

“Coming to our customers today, we are also bridging the knowledge gap so that at the end of the day, they will have confidence in the company,” he said.

He said that most of the issues raised at Ojodu undertaking include payment, billing and metering.

According to him, the company has developed a methodology that will ensure that the actual energy consumed by consumers is what he or she pays for.

The business manager said that he came with dedicated team to address the issues on site, adding that he believed that consumers would leave the place looking satisfied.

Meanwhile, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN, report more than 1,000 consumers of Ikeja Electric attended with many of them with electricity bills.

The Ikeja Electric workers were also seen attending to the consumers and promising to fix their complaints.

Some consumers who spoke with NAN commended the company for organizing the meeting with a view to attending to their complaints.

Mrs Edema Titilope, who resides in No14, Zensu Street off Ojodu Estate said:” This is a good forum at least; we have the opportunity to express our feeling freely.

“My problem is over billing and they have promised to look into it.

Also, Mr Fatai Sowemime, a landlord at No.6, Ojodu Estate, who told NAN that the forum was a new development in power sector, urged other distribution companies to emulate Ikeja Electric.

Sowemime also advised Ikeja Electric to ensure that its members of staff reach out to consumers as promised with a view to ironing out their complaints.

He appealed to the company to install prepaid meters for all consumers, to address outrageous billing.