According to the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Distribution Companies (DisCos) provide distribution infrastructure to their customers. However, this is not the case as it is the other way around.
Nextier Power, in collaboration with the Network of Electricity Consumers Advocacy of Nigeria (NECAN), organised a series of customer engagement programmes across Nigeria. On Tuesday, the 22nd of June, the engagement programme was held in Eyeleye Local Government Area (LGA) in Ibadan.
The main concern of electricity customers in the area was the provision of distribution infrastructure. The customers were enlightened that it is not their obligation to purchase distribution infrastructures such as transformers and cables. After gaining this information, many customers were agitated because it was the other way around.
As stated by the customers in the area, it was common practice for communities to come together, contribute, and purchase transformers and poles. Some electricity customers even complained that it was sometimes very difficult to get their DisCo, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), to energise the infrastructure after they had been purchased.
In one case, the customer complained that to date, the transformer his community contributed to purchase had still not been energised after years. Another customer complained that IBEDC instructed them to write a formal letter after his community purchased a transformer. The content of the letter was that the community was contributing the transformer to the Distribution Company.
With the NERC’s stipulation that electricity customers are not to purchase infrastructure for their DisCos, why is it the other way around? If the Nigerian electricity sector is to be fixed, these nuances need to be corrected. Further enlightenment of electricity customers is a way to start the correction. When customers are informed, it is easier for them to demand accountability from their DisCos.