LAGOS DEPUTY GOV, HAMZAT LAMENTS HIKE OF HIS ELECTRICITY BILL FROM N2.7M TO N29M
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Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, has raised alarm over a sharp increase in his electricity bill, revealing that the utility company supplying power to his official residence hiked his bill from ₦2.7 million in March to a staggering ₦29 million in April.
Hamzat also expressed frustration over the company’s refusal to provide a prepaid meter, despite having made payment for one.
He made the disclosure on Monday during a roundtable held in Victoria Island between the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the Lagos State Government.
The meeting was part of efforts to formalize a Memorandum of Understanding between the REA and the state government aimed at extending electricity access to rural communities across Lagos.
Hamzat, who represented Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the event, decried what he called ‘crazy billing’.
“People that 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. I actually procured a meter. I bought a meter to say, ’Look, don’t give estimated billin’g. I bought the meter, but to convert it is wahala,” he lamented.
He narrated how a consumer in the Coker Aguda area of the state was charged N2.8m when his rent is N2m.
“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.
Hamzat commended the Commissioner for Energy, Biodun Ogunleye, for facilitating the deal with the Rural Electrification Agency to solarise rural communities in Lagos.
Speaking, Ogunleye said Lagos has launched into a partnership with REA to enhance a whole new set of opportunities.
“Opportunities for those who never thought in their lifetime they would experience or live within an environment where there will be a constant and stable supply of electricity.
“I am delighted that I know that REA has been to a number of other states, but when you are not in Lagos, you’re not yet there,” he said.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, said some communities have been identified to benefit from the rural electrification programme.
He maintained that the agency will need the approval of the Lagos State Government to build an 8-megawatt capacity floating solar plant at the University of Lagos.
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