Oshindede Babatunde, a resident of Ikorodu, Lagos, has narrated how an unresolved billing dispute with Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) has left him burdened with over N300,000 in charges.

Babatunde told FIJ that the saga began in August when his residential area, classified under Tariff C Non-Maximum Demand, was moved to the more expensive Tariff C Maximum Demand-1 category. The tariff change, he said, resulted in an exorbitant bill of N280,735 for August.

The Ikorodu resident said he was shocked by the charge and sought an explanation from a local marketer, who directed him to IKEDC’s Alogba head office in Ikorodu. When he visited the office, a customer care representative provided a service request number and instructed him to use it for payments while the issue was being resolved.

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“The customer care representative advised me to acquire a prepaid meter to avoid future billing discrepancies,” Babatunde told FIJ. “In September, they reverted me to the previous tariff, but the outrageous bill was not waived. I had already made a payment of N20,000 towards the bill, but the company continued to claim I owed N260,000.”

Babatunde returned to Alogba to inform the team that his account had not been reconciled despite their assurances that they were working to resolve the issue. Their response, he said, was that he should be patient or get a prepaid meter for them to reconcile the account.

“When I got the prepaid meter in October, I expected them to reconcile my account. But to my surprise, they said I now owed over N300,000 on that meter,” he said.

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“On my third visit to Alogba, they still asked me to be patient. I then went to their head office at Ikeja, but again, they said they were still working on it. They told me that I could not recharge less than N20,000 because I owed N308,000.

“Every month, they deduct N20,000 from what I recharge and assign the equivalent units of what is left. This is killing me. I have lodged complaints to no avail. I emailed the regulatory body. They requested evidence, which I sent, but they haven’t responded.”

FIJ emailed IKEDC on November 26, and a customer care representative said the complaint was receiving attention and that a follow-up had been initiated to expedite resolution. However, despite their claim, Babatunde has yet to get justice, and the outrageous billing continues to pile up.