Electrical contractors protest against IBEDC over alleged exploitation

Members of the Licensed Electrical Contractors Association of Nigeria, LECAN, Osun State chapter, on Thursday staged a protest against the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, alleging exploitation and professional misconduct by its staff.

The protest was held along the Osogbo/Ibokun Road, with protesters chanting songs and carrying placards bearing messages such as “IBEDC Exploits Customers,” “Band A Is a Fraud,” and “Make Meters Available to All.”

LECAN members accused IBEDC staff of engaging in practices that undermine the Electricity Act of 2013 and encroach on responsibilities legally assigned to licensed contractors.

State Chairman of LECAN, Kayode Adebayo, while addressing journalists during the protest, claimed that IBEDC personnel had taken over the role of licensed electrical contractors and were extorting residents.

Adebayo said, “The Electricity Act clearly defines the duties of DISCOs, contractors, and consumers, but IBEDC workers have overstepped their bounds and now create barriers for residents to access electricity.”

According to him, the process of obtaining an electricity meter has become unnecessarily difficult due to the activities of certain IBEDC employees.

He alleged that customers were being billed arbitrarily, with new accounts often receiving unexplained minimum debits of N100,000 before any actual electricity supply.

“These unaccounted charges are then transferred to prepaid meters, making residents pay for services they never received,” Adebayo added.

The contractors further accused IBEDC of failing to replace faulty meters, instead forcing customers to bear the costs or endure estimated billing.

Adebayo said that many customers who submitted meter cards for upgrade had not received them back, calling the delay both illegal and exploitative.

The protestors also challenged the legitimacy of the band classification system, with specific criticism directed at Band A, labelling it a non-functional and fraudulent policy.

Additionally, the group claimed that customers were made to pay unofficial fees to IBEDC staff in order to have their transformers connected to the national grid.

“In some areas, even when transformers are installed, they remain inactive unless certain underhand payments are made,” Adebayo alleged.

LECAN also demanded an end to what it termed fraudulent practices by IBEDC staff and urged regulatory intervention.

In response, the Osogbo Regional Communication Officer of IBEDC, Kikelomo Owoeye, denied all allegations made by the contractors.

Owoeye stated, “Customers are not billed before connection. Any billing issues arising during construction are resolved through available adjustment procedures.”

She noted that IBEDC remains committed to metering customers who provide verifiable proof of payment, while also addressing cases of attempted fraud involving meter receipts.

On the issue of meter card upgrades, she clarified that the programme had been a temporary amnesty initiative with a defined deadline that had already passed.

Owoeye added that faulty meters are replaced by IBEDC depending on the cause, with manufacturing defects handled by the company and misuse cases requiring customer responsibility.

She explained that, to avoid disruption in supply during meter replacement, temporary billing is based on the cap approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC.