A cross-section of electricity consumers in Umuahia, on Tuesday, took to the streets to protest against the “outrageous, unbearable and unjustified” bills charged by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company.
The protesters, under the aegis of Concerned Umuahia Residents, marched from the EEDC Umuahia Office on Bende Road to the Government House on Akanu Ibiam Road.
They carried placards with different inscriptions, such as ‘We cannot pay N50,000 bill’, ‘Return electricity bill back to status quo’, ‘Electricity bill now equal to minimum wage’, among others.
The leader of the group, Chukwuemeka Ozugbo, said that they were peacefully expressing their frustration over the recent sharp increase in tariffs in the city.
Mr Ozugbo said that most households, which previously paid about N10,000 monthly, recently received between N50,000 and N70,000 without a corresponding improvement in power supply. He described the sudden rise as “outrageous, unbearable and unjustified”, saying that most residents are civil servants, who live on N70,000 minimum wage.
He questioned the rationale behind billing someone who earns N70,000 monthly as much as N50,000 for electricity.
Mr Ozugbo described the EEDC action as unfair, saying that it violated natural justice and equity. He demanded that the company revert to the previous billing rate of about ₦10,000 per household.
A civil servant, Nnamdi Okenwa, also lamented the sharp increase in the unit cost of energy on prepaid metering.
According to Mr Okenwa, his previous bill was N3,000 monthly, but he pays between N15,000 and N17,000, despite limited electricity usage in his house.
He complained that EEDC often supplied power briefly, especially when it planned to disconnect, and usually returned to load shedding after collecting payments from consumers.
The Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, who received the protesters at the Government House main gate, assured them that their grievances would be officially addressed and resolved through peaceful and structured engagement.
Mr Monday commended them for their peaceful conduct while expressing their demand for fair billing.
He pointed out that the sharp tariff hike in Umuahia from ₦53 to ₦200 per kilowatt-hour was due to the EEDC upgrading the feeder to Band A.
He advised affected residents to put up an official complaint letter for proper documentation. Mr Monday said that formal communication would enable the State Government to address the matter more effectively and transparently.
In an interview with journalists, the head of commercial of EEDC Abia, Festus Iwuala, explained that the tariff increment resulted from the reclassification of the affected feeder to Band A by the NERC.
Mr Iwuala said that the feeder had previously been categorised under Bands C and B, but as of September 1, it was approved for Band A billing, reflecting higher electricity supply standards. He said the adjustments were only applicable when errors occurred and that the recent change was based on national regulatory approval, not on arbitrary actions by the distribution company.
(NAN)
