Landlords and residents have lamented over epileptic power supply and rising electricity bills at Moniya community, in the Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The residents, who complained of experiencing blackouts in the area for about four days, said the electricity bills issued by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company to households in the community did not reflect their actual power consumption.
Speaking with our correspondent on Wednesday, a resident, Usman Busari, said efforts by members of the community to get the power distribution company to improve the supply of power in the community had proved abortive.
He said, “IBEDC doesn’t give us power at all. Neighbouring areas including Akingbile, Idi Ishin, Idi Ifa, and Shasha usually enjoy power supply. They get about eight to 10 hours per day. But whenever we complain, they (IBEDC) tell us that they have a poor allocation from the Transmission Company of Nigeria for the Moniya community.
“But they don’t have poor billing! They would bring N3, 000 bills for a household per month. They promised to adjust but the adjustment was that they brought light twice in a week. They blame it on faults in the control room but despite that, they would bring outrageous bills.
“When they brought a bill of N2,000 to my house last month, I asked the IBEDC official why they kept bringing bills when there was no power. It is even worse this month as they brought N5,000 as my bill when there was no power supply.”
Another resident, Omolola Pedro, said the lack of power supply had negatively affected business operations in the community.
“The power supply in the Moniya community has been very terrible. My mum sells drinks and when we tell customers drinks are not cold, they go away. At some point, for three months, we didn’t have light, it’s that bad,” Pedro said.
An electricity bill for one of the houses in the community for June 2023, obtained by our correspondent, indicated that the landlord was charged N6,033.
The Chairman of the Ifesowapo Landlord Association in the area, Rafiu Bello, said despite constant complaining and petitioning the concerned authorities, nothing was done.
“They bring high bills at the end of the month. It’s been happening from time to time. They brought about N4, 600 as electricity bill this month compared to about N2, 000 before. When we complain, they would say they have a target, but is it the community that should bear the target?” Bello said.
Contacted regarding the situation in the community, the IBEDC Technical Engineer in the area, identified simply as Akintayo, said, “We will supply the power very soon.”
Efforts to hear from the state Head, Media Unit, IBEDC, Busola Tunwase, proved abortive as her mobile number did not connect.
She had yet to respond to a text message sent to her number as of the time this report was filed.
However, a source in the power distribution company said the transformers supplying power to the community and other adjoining communities including Akanran, Monatan, and Ojoo were weak.
“Moniya community is fast-expanding. What is required to power Moniya at a time before is now on the high side, which cannot be gotten. That’s the fundamental issue apart from the local faults that could be easily rectified,” the source added.
