Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat has verbally attacked Eko DisCo, supplier of power to his residence.
The Deputy governor tore into the electricity company while speaking at a roundtable between the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the Lagos State Government on Monday.
The attack proceeded from claim that the company slammed an exorbitant electricity bill against him.
He made the remark against the backdrop of general complaints against the electricity companies bordering on plaguing consumers with high bills.
Supporting the claim with his own experience, Hamzat said, “People are trying to survive and the common denominator for them is power. They don’t have power. There are billing challenges. In fact I’m a very good example. Last month, in my house, or the state house that I live in, the bill was N2.7m last month.
“This month, Eko DisCo sent us a bill of 29m. I sent it to the Commissioner for Energy. It’s crazy.”
Hamzat also narrated cases, including that of a resident in Coker Aguda, Surulere, who received an electricity bill of ₦2.8 million, an amount which exceeded his annual rent of ₦2 million.
“There’s a place called Coker Aguda in Surulere, and people came to me, and I was asking them to calm down. A man’s rent in a year is about N2m; they gave him a bill of N2.8m for electricity. How can the bill be more than the man’s rent for a year? Those are the challenges that we have. Our people are suffering because of estimated billing,” he stated.
At the roundtable, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the REA and Lagos State to expand electricity access to underserved rural communities.
