The Federal Government has been requested by the Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defenders Foundation and the South East Zone of the Campaign for Democracy to cancel the licenses of the nation’s electricity distribution companies.
Following their strategic general meeting on Monday, the groups issued a statement to the media.
The privatization of that industry by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, they claimed, was a “big deception and swindle” due to the electrical suppliers’ inefficiencies.
The group expressed disbelief that the All Progressives Congress, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, still permitted the fraudulent swindle to continue nearly eight years after they gained control of the government in a statement signed by Dede Uzor, the organisation’s national president.
The organization bemoaned the fact that energy distribution corporations don’t do anything for Nigerians other than fleece them by charging absurdly high prices and manipulating the prepaid billing system.
They claimed that the DISCOs had replaced the old meters with fast reading ones in order to introduce them, but in reality, they have flatly refused to meter individuals who are still paying with anticipated billings so that they can continue to take advantage of them.
They bemoaned the fact that, in spite of all these exorbitant fees, the services are criminally subpar and refuse to provide electricity to the customers even when there is an abundance of power in the system.
However, the rights group pointed out that consumers have continued to foot the bill for replacing defective parts, packed transformers, and services provided by employees or agents of DISCOs under coercion or exploitation.
It said, “In the face of all this, the services are still abysmally poor. There is low shading everywhere and sometimes, there would be no light for several days, weeks and months due to minor faults” especially in Fegge Onitsha, Onitsha, Iyiowa and Okpoko in Ogbaru LGA, Awada and Omogba in Idemili LGA, 33 among other areas.
“DISCOs have become conduit pipe and an avenue through which consumers are being exploited by privileged few who bought over the companies from the Federal Government in the name of privatisation through estimated and crazy bills without providing light.
“For those using prepaid metres, the DISCOs have installed fast-reading metres that make power consumption for the customers very expensive and exploitative. In addition to the inbuilt system, they made the metres enter into what they call tamper code.”
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company was especially charged by the organizations of corruptly distributing power and shading loads in some commercial and residential districts in the South East.
Additionally, it demanded the quick overhaul of Nigeria’s power infrastructure as well as the dismissal of all feeder managers, managers, distribution managers, sectional heads, and anybody else responsible for the region’s inadequate power delivery.
“We called on the Federal Government to develop other sources of generating power such as solar as well as allow companies, organisations and individuals who can generate their own power to do so and distribute without facing unnecessary bottleneck from the system.
“Unfortunately, the current administration has not demonstrated enough political will to improve power supply in the country.
“They have not done anything to improve power in the country. They cannot even compel the DISCOs to carry out the Federal Government metering programme. And that is why estimated billing system still persists as the major source of exploiting consumers,” the groups added.
