Rescuing Igbo People From The Bondage Of EEDC & Nefarious Conducts Of
Its Ogbaru, Onitsha & Ogidi Business Districts
(Intersociety & Southeast CLO Joint Statement: 6th December 2017)-The
leaderships of Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
(Intersociety) and Southeast Zone of the Civil Liberties Organization
(Southeast CLO) are deeply concerned over the lawlessness and
syndicated criminal activities going on in the Enugu Electricity
Distribution Company (EEDC). Electricity as the livewire of the people
of Southeast Zone or Igbo People of Nigeria and driving force of the
economy of the Zone has been brutally denied the people of the
Southeast.
The social content of the power supply in the Zone (steady and
affordable power supply, social convenience and happiness) is speedily
on the brink; to the extent that criminal syndicates have taken over;
running riot on vulnerable consumers in the Zone with reckless
abandon. The oversight agencies and other mechanisms put in place to
checkmate the excesses of the Company so as to compel same to do the
needful and subscribe to its corporate social responsibilities; appear
helpless or compromised. Such bodies like NERC and Customers’
Complaint Units look as if they have been perpetually infested by
“EEDC virus”.
As a matter of fact, EEDC has become an outlaw; flouting its terms of
agreement with the Federal Government that led to granting of license
to same to distribute and market power supply to the people of
Southeast Nigeria. The most disastrous of it all is the reckless
abandon and impunity with which EEDC breaches the clear provisions of
the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission Act (Electric Power
Sector Reform (EPSR) Act No 6 of 2005).
It is recalled that EEDC was formed in 2012 after its major investors
successfully, if not controversially won a federal bidding license to
take over the assets and liabilities of the defunct Power Holding
Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in Southeast Zone. Electricity in Nigeria is
divided into generation, transmission and distribution with EEDC
granted a federal license in the area of distribution to distribute
and market electricity in Southeast Nigeria; a major industrial zone
in the country.
Major owners or directors of EEDC are: Mr. Emeka Offor (chairman),
Senator Ken Nnamani (director), Prince Adetokumbo Kayode (director),
Dr Stephen Dike (director), Mr Kester Enwereonwu (director) and Mr
Amaechi Aloke (alternate director BPE-Rep). The Acting Managing
Director & Chief Executive Officer of EEDC is Mr. Paul Okeke. The
Company has a 13-person Executive Management Team.
Also, EEDC is presently divided into 18 Business Districts with six in
Anambra; namely: Onitsha, Awka, Nnewi, Ogbaru, Ogidi and Ekwulobia
Districts; four in Enugu: Awkunanaw, Abakpa, Nsukka and Ogui
Districts; four Imo: Mbaise, Owerri, New Owerri and Orlu Districts;
three in Abia: Ariaria, Aba and Umuahia Districts; and one in Ebonyi:
Abakiliki District.
Today, EEDC has become a torn in the fresh of the people of the
Southeast Nigeria. In all recent performance surveys of NERC and
independent others carried out on all DISCOS in Nigeria, EEDC remains
the least performing DISCO (Power Distribution Company) in Nigeria.
The demand and supply content of EEDC is virtually nothing to write
home about; other than robbing Peter to pay Paul and ripping from
where it never sowed.
Not only that industrial and non industrial consumers of EEDC are
totally left to shoulder the responsibilities of procuring, installing
and maintaining distribution transformers and their accessories, they
are also over-billed, threatened, forced, despised and extorted.
Customer service or public complaint response is provocatively and
acutely slow and in the event of faults on transformers or feeder
lines, it takes ages to restore same; except where the affected
consumers are ready under duress to defray the costs of their repair
or replacement. General power supply in the entire Southeast Zone is
also acutely low or unsteady; with industrial growth and social living
crashing irreversibly.
Till date, EEDC has no acceptable standardized methods or processes of
billing its customers especially the non industrial customers or
consumers or single phase residential customers. The Company issues
outrageous and crazy bills to its customers with reckless abandon and
runs riot on those who pay half of the imposed monthly outrageous bill
through violent disconnection of their power lines.
In Anambra’s six Business Districts of Onitsha, Ogbaru, Awka, Ogidi,
Ekwulobia and Nnewi, outrageous monthly bill of as much as N10, 000 to
N15, 000 or more is now imposed indiscriminately and forced on each
customer to pay. A consumer that pays half of the outrageous monthly
bill so imposed (i.e. N5, 000 out of N10, 000 or N7, 000 out of N14,
000) instantly and violently stands disconnected; unless he or she
pays fully what was imposed.
Through this criminal method, EEDC illicitly rakes in tens, if not
hundreds of millions of naira on monthly basis through the criminal
disconnection. For “each of the single phase residential customers” or
non industrial consumers (R2S), a mandatory fixed extortionist fee of
N1, 000 imposed as “reconnection fee”; for “each of the three phase
customers” (R2T: CIT), N2, 000 is imposed; for “each of the DITI
customers (i.e. churches, hospitals and schools), N5, 000 is imposed;
and for “each of the maximum demand” or industrial customers, N10, 000
is imposed.
The indiscriminate issuance of outrageous and unmetered monthly bills
has also led to high volume of accumulated arrears; running into tens,
if not hundreds of thousands of naira for each of the affected
consumers. This forms bulk of what EEDC tags “billions of naira unpaid
bills owed EEDC by electricity consumers in Southeast”. In many
residential areas, estimated monthly bill has become higher than
monthly house rent.
Despite the NERC’s clearly stipulated procedures for power line
disconnection such as non disconnection of those that pay reasonable
part payment; non disconnection of the entire residential building
including where most residents have paid as well as ensuring proper
issuance of pre disconnection notice to the affected customers, etc;
EEDC has gone on rampage; disconnecting customers with reckless
abandon; all with intention of intimidation, extortion and criminal
enrichment. The Company has also introduced various methods of
criminal disconnection alien to Nigeria’s power sector reform and its
processes including total disconnection of a street or community
transformer, disconnection of feeder line and disconnection of the
entire residential building including where most residents have paid
their bills.


A clear case in point was on 30th November 2017, when the Network
Manager for Ogbaru Business District, Engr. Obi Ughasoro ordered his
field personnel to remove all fuses in the Mission Road/Chioma
Hospital Bus Stop “33” Feeder Transformer; accusing the consumers in
the area of “paying underpayment at flat rate of N5, 000 per consumer;
instead of paying average monthly estimated bill of N10, 000 per
customer”. The area is still in total darkness till date. Each
consumer in the area is forced to pay monthly estimated bill of
between N10, 000 and N14, 0000.
At Iyiowa Layout under the same Ogbaru Business District “33” Feeder
Transformer, the story is the same, if not worse. This important area;
with total of over 650 flat apartments, churches and 450 provision
stores/vocational outlets including private hospitals and schools;
have been thrown into total darkness for over 10 days or since 25th
November 2017.
The total darkness was effected from “33” Feeder Line disconnection
ordered by the same Ogbaru Network Manager, Engr. Obi Ughasoro;
accusing the area of “paying underpayment” in the out-gone month of
November 2017. Till date, the area is still in total darkness with no
traces of any major fault on the existing “33” Feeder Line or its
Awada and GCM host stations. As if that was not enough, some churches
in Ogbaru have their power lines disconnected few weeks ago; after
being accused of “paying below their monthly bills”.
There are existing NERC directives and billing methods for billing
“single phase residential customers” in the entire 18 EEDC’s Business
Districts in Southeast Nigeria. Such directives and billing methods
include provision of prepaid meters or in the interim, billing of the
referenced class of consumers especially those with malfunctioning
meters and unmetered consumers using “average monthly consumption
units of the functional post paid meters”; which has highest monthly
average of 150 units per N30.93k or less than N4,700 per consumer.
Conversely and sadly, EEDC not only observes these clear directives
and streamlined billing methods in gross breach, but it also
indiscriminately imposes and dishes out between 300 and 500 units
monthly to each of its “single phase residential customers” in
Southeast Zone especially in Ogbaru, Onitsha and Ogidi Business
Districts; leading to issuance of monthly estimated bill of between
N10, 0000 and N15, 000 to each consumer in the said 18 Business
Districts of the Company. This amount excludes valued added tax or
VAT. Consumers who pay half of this outrageous monthly bill instantly
run the high risk of being violently disconnected.
Criminal Syndicates In EEDC
Criminal syndicates do exist in EEDC especially in Ogbaru, Onitsha,
Ogidi, Nnewi, Ekwulobia and Awka Business Districts. They not only
ensure that consumers especially the single phase residential
customers are not appropriately metered through “prepaid meter
system”, but also responsible for issuance of crazy or outrageous
monthly billing and indiscriminate power line and transformer
disconnection for sundry criminal penalties. Owing to a truism that
prepaid metering is customer friendly, less stressful, cheaper and
corruption unfriendly; these criminal syndicates have continuously
flouted NERC’s directives and frustrated its efforts geared towards
ensuring credible metering of consumers.
The use of estimated and outrageous billing system and its accompanied
disconnection method have become a goldmine for them; making them to
smile to the bank every month with tens, if not hundreds of millions
of naira being criminal proceeds from criminal power disconnection.
The referenced criminal syndicates at EEDC especially in its six
Business Districts in Anambra State; have further devised a sort of
pre installation tempering of prepaid meters meant for single phase
customers; whereby few prepaid meters installed are technically
manipulated to run like those of “maximum demand” or “industrial
customers”.
In other words, it is designed in such a way that N5, 000 prepaid
credit or card used with few electrical appliances runs the high risk
of tapping out in less than two weeks. This latest criminal act is
designed to scare away and discourage prospective prepaid meter
applicants and perpetuate the old order of estimated billing and
disconnection of power line and its associated sundry extortions.
We had also in the course of our advocacy letters and written
representations against the Ogbaru, Onitsha and Ogidi Business
Districts and their Network Managers (formerly Business Managers)
discovered another criminal syndicate with links inside the NERC
headquarters in Abuja as well as at its Southeast offices and the
Enugu Headquarters of EEDC.
The criminal syndicate, oils by the trio of Ogbaru, Onitsha and Ogidi
Network Managers and relevant others; specializes in removing letters
filed against the named top EEDC officials from where they are
officially or appropriately documented. The criminal syndicate also
functions as “whistle blowers” or alarmists once the said letters
arrived and filed at appropriate quarters, by alerting the said top
officials to “take note” or “cover”; all for a monthly criminal token.
For instance, our petition against the trio of Ogbaru, Onitsha and
Ogidi Business Districts and their Network Managers; with Ogbaru
Business District and its Network Manager as our case study was
removed from the official file of NERC in Abuja. The letter was dated
10th November 2015. It was when we did not receive any signal from
NERC that we sent a team with extra copy and discovered that our
letter was removed from NERC official records. It took us time moving
from department to another in search of the letter. This was after we
got a proof of delivery from a courier agency, indicating its
successful delivery to the intended recipient (NERC). We took time to
re-submit same before we could be given response so required.
Again, on 28th March 2017, we sent another petition against the Ogbaru
Business District and its Manager, Engr. Obi Ughasoro to the Enugu
Headquarters of EEDC. It was addressed to the then Managing
Director/CEO of EEDC, Mr. Jayrahman (an Indian). The letter with a
court affidavit was delivered personally by one of our lawyers, Barr
Florence Akubuilo; with an extra copy duly stamped as “received”.
We waited for months for Enugu EEDC response, all to no avail, forcing
us to send another team to Enugu; only to find out that our letter was
removed again from where it was officially filed and indented. Our
team insisted on seeing the submitted original copy of ours, all to no
avail. We were told that “someone must have removed it for someone”
and that “it is a routine”.
In all, the Ogbaru Business District under Engr. Obi Ughasoro (Network
Manager) and his heads of Marketing (Mr. Emeka Udeh), Billing (Engr.
God-Gift) and “33” Feeder Line Manager (Engr. Ifeanyi Eneh) as well as
his Senior Manager for Distribution is a lawless Business District;
with its major stock-in-trade being gross incompetence, extortion and
criminal enrichment. The Onitsha, Ogidi and Ogbaru Business Districts
are, therefore, the worst Business Districts in Southeast Nigeria.
We therefore call on NERC and the Federal Ministry of Power to come to
the rescue of the people of Southeast Nigeria and rescue them from
perpetual bondage of EEDC. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission must, as a matter of fact, wake up from its slump and save
the people of Southeast from nefarious conducts of EEDC. The National
Headquarters of NERC should also carry a routine mass transfer of its
personnel in the Southeast. This is given to clear indication that its
said personnel now work hand in glove with EEDC; forcing consumers to
groan endlessly and remain in perpetual bondage of EEDC.
Removal Or Sacking Of Ogbaru Network Manager (Engr. Obi Ughasoro) & Co
The above highlighted despicable activities of the Ogbaru, Onitsha and
Ogidi Network Managers and their subordinates; especially Engr. Obi
Ughasoro of the Ogbaru Business District and his Marketing, Billing,
“33” Feeder Line and Distribution Managers should be thoroughly
investigated by the authorities of EEDC at its Enugu Headquarters;
with appropriate sanctions meted; including removing or sacking them
to deter others like them.
Specifically, the Ogbaru Network Manager and his subordinates should
be firmly and swiftly directed by their appropriate superiors at the
Enugu EEDC Headquarters to restore power supply to all the
disconnected power lines especially the Ogbaru “33” Feeder Line and
discontinue all the nefarious conducts complained of; including
indiscriminate mass disconnection and issuance of unmetered and
outrageous monthly bills. EEDC must inexcusably provide un-tempered
and NERC supervised and certified prepaid meters to all consumers in
Southeast Zone especially single phase residential customers or
residential and non industrial consumers.
Note: Engr. Obi Ughasoro (Network Manager for Ogbaru Business
District) can be contacted for fair hearing via his official line:
+2348036315033
Signed:
For: Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
Mobile Line: +2348174090052
For: Civil Liberties Organization, Southeast Zone (Southeast CLO)
Comrade Aloysius Emeka Attah, Chairman
Mobile Line: +2348035090548