Lagos Residents Protest Electricity Tariff Hike Attached With ‘Band A’

Lagos residents of Akinola/Aboru communities in Alimosho protesting ‘Band A’ tariff hike on Monday, September 23, 2024 | Photo: TheCable

Lagos State residents of Akinola and Aboru communities in the Alimosho local government area protested “forceful migration” to the Band A category by Ikeja Electric Distribution Company.

As reported by TheCable, the residents took to physical demonstrations carrying placards. On it were inscriptions such as ‘re-emigrate our communities to Band B’, ‘scrap all bands; stop the inequality’,  and ‘Akinola/Aboru estate communities reject Band A tariff billing’, among others.

During the demonstration on Monday, some residents decried the inability to afford N227 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity.

Wale Famutimi, a community leader, told TheCable that Ikeja DisCos migrated the communities to the premium category without their notice last year.

Those who do not have pre-paid metres are being asked to pay ‘unreasonably’ high estimated electricity bills,” Famutimi stated.

It will be recalled on April 3, 2024, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)approved an increase in the electricity tariff. This led to an increase from N66 to N227 per kWh.

Band A customers were to utilise at least 20 hours of uninterrupted power supplied daily, while Band B is 16 hours. Band C is 12 hours, Band D is 8, and Band E is 4.

With the introduction of these categories, there was a public outcry owing to the quantity of meters worth of units at every purchase of electricity.

In the recent protest, however, the communities using Band A now demand that IkejaDiscos re-emigrate their category to B due to the alleged scam of paying high for low units.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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