TheCable

Omobola Johnson, a former minister of communication, says her office has been disconnected over N29,000 electricity bill while it was shut during the COVID-19 lockdown.

In a Twitter post on Thursday, the former minister said not even one light bulb was used for a whole month for which the bill was issued by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company.

She noted that the bill was the highest she had received for four years, and called for an end to estimated billing.

“Got back to my office on Tuesday after 6 weeks of lockdown to see April bill from @EKEDP for N29k! Not even a light bulb came on in the whole month,” she said.

“Then they had the audacity to disconnect the power because I refused to pay! This estimated billing nonsense really has to stop.

“Yes there is a minimum amount. My monthly electricity bill is between N20k and N25k. This April bill is the highest I have received in 4 years!”

According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), about 5.8 million electricity users in the country are still on estimated billing.

The commission later issued an order against the billing method to protect customers from “unrealistic and arbitrary billing” as the DisCos have failed to meter most of its consumers.

The house of representatives has also passed a bill seeking to criminalise estimated billing in the country.

Got back to my office on Tuesday after 6 weeks of lockdown to see April bill from @EKEDP for N29k!Not even a light bulb came on in the whole month.Then they had the audacity to disconnect the power because I refused to pay! This estimated billing nonsense really has to stop.

— Omobola Johnson (@OmobolaJohnson) May 21, 2020

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