The Osun State branch of the Licensed Electrical Contractors Association of Nigeria (LECAN) staged a peaceful protest in Osogbo on Wednesday, decrying alleged extortion and irregularities by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
LECAN accused the IBEDC of exploiting customers, engaging in unethical practices, and failing to operate in accordance with the provisions of the Electricity Act of 2013. The union also criticized the company for acting beyond its mandate by taking on the role of electricity contractors.
Led by the State Chairman of LECAN, Prophet Michael Adebayo, the protest featured members holding placards with various inscriptions such as: “Band System is a Fraud,” “Enough of IBEDC Exploitation on Transformers,” “Stop Supplying Substandard Meters,” “Replace Faulty Meters Free,” and “Stop Delays in Account Generation.”
Speaking to journalists, Prophet Adebayo said the protest was aimed at drawing attention to the plight of electricity consumers, who he claimed are constantly subjected to exploitation, harassment, and inhumane treatment by IBEDC management.
Customers facing issues with their prepaid meters—issues caused by technical faults from IBEDC—are often punished for problems that are not their fault,” Adebayo stated. “Rather than replace faulty meters, the company forces customers to pay for new ones or subjects them to direct or estimated billing, leading to perpetual indebtedness. Some of these affected customers are here with us today.”
He also alleged that newly created electricity accounts were fraudulently debited with a minimum of N100,000 before being connected to the grid.
Adebayo called on the Federal Government to intervene and compel IBEDC to improve its services in the interest of electricity consumers.
Also speaking, the Zonal Treasurer of LECAN, Mr. Kayode Ogungbile, criticized the current operations of IBEDC, saying the quality of service had significantly declined compared to 15 to 20 years ago.
Another union member, Deacon Victor Oyedokun, lamented that IBEDC was more focused on revenue generation than on delivering quality services to consumers, who, according to him, are not getting value for what they pay.
