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Mixed reactions trail crazy electricity bills
- Consumers allege foul play
In recent times, Nigerians have complained about what they call “crazy electricity bills”. The recent tariff increases have left many Nigerians angry over the increased cost of electricity usage.
According to a report by the Nation Newspaper, Pa Isiaka, a retired civil servant lamented saying: “I get only ₦5,000 monthly as my pension. I pay my bills regularly because it was ₦5,000. My children used to help me, but unfortunately, the one that had the strength was affected by job loss occasioned by COVID-19. I was owing only ₦500 as at October 2020. Now they brought ₦27,000 for November. Because of my condition, I paid ₦3,000 out of the bill. Now they brought another ₦27,700 for December 2020. Where do they expect me to get this kind of crazy bill?”
Nigerians have also taken to the social networking site, Twitter, to express their frustrations with the increasing cost of electricity. One user said:
“I was shocked last night when I heard a beep from my prepaid meter AGAIN! Within a space of one month, I’ve spent close to ₦40K on electricity units. I think it’s time to do a timetable for when the freezer & ACs should be coming on. Cos IKEDC wants to send me back to my village”.
Another user had this to say;
“You’ll have increased your price twice in less than half a year. 20k was 750+ units, now only 432 units! If someone has to spend over 50k in a month on nepa even while managing, then it’ll be better to use the money on diesel and actually have peace of mind when I use it”.
The pandemic and lockdown had brought untold hardship upon Nigerians and the increase in the cost of living has made things worse.