Following the protest carried out on Tuesday by residents of Cottage Area, Ede against officials of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Ede Business Hub, where the company was accused of extortion, epileptic power supply and deliberately imposing blackout on the town, the distribution company has appealed to customers in the town to exercise patience.
In a press release made available to DAILY POST by the Osun Spokesperson, Kikelomo Owoeye, IBEDC explained that their customers ”on Cottage feeder are on Band C 12H according to the implementation of the Service Reflective Tariff (SRT) and classification of feeders on minimum of 12 hours to maximum of 15 hours, and we have been keeping that side of the directive since the implementation of the SRT.”
According to her, “Under the Service Reflective Tariff, we have five bands which includes Band A which is minimum of 20 hours, Band B is minimum of 16 hours, Band C is minimum of 12 hours, Band D is minimum of 8 hours while Band E is minimum of 4 hours of power supply that they enjoy according to their feeder classification.
“For our esteemed customers who claimed to have paid for Prepaid meters that are yet to be installed, we appeal that they should present the original copies of their payment tellers for verification so as to guide against sharp practices. After verification of their tellers, their meters will be subsequently installed.
“Also, the Federal Government has embarked on National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) which was recently launched in Osogbo, Osun State. This is to bridge the metering gap and ensure the issue of capping billing becomes history.
“The free metering programme is on Phase Zero which IBEDC will be deploying 104,000 meters across the franchise. The phase zero has begun in Osogbo being the State capital and it will be extended to all the unmetered customers because we are still going to phase 1 and 2.”
She urged customers who are currently being issued estimated bills that is not in tandem with the current Capped billing to visit their Head office in Osogbo.
Owoeye revealed that new customer care offices under Ede Business Hub have been created, adding that same offices have also been created in Agunbelewo, Iwo and Ejigbo aside the one at Oke-Gada, Ede as a way of bringing customer channels closer to their customers.
She called on their customers to explore IBEDC complaint channels which include phone calls and emails to lodge their complaints.
DAILY POST had reported that angry youths under the aegis of Federation of Ede Youths Association led by their President, Mr. AddulAzeez Idowu, had led the youths of the town in a peaceful protest, demanding an end to extortion from IBEDC personnel.
The FEDYA President also called on the concerned authorities to act speedily on their plights to avoid the wrath of inhabitants of the town.
