Economy
Ikeja Electric Customers Demand Debt Forgiveness
By Dipo Olowookere
An appeal has been made to the management of Ikeja Electric by customers in the Shomolu area of Lagos for a debt forgiveness on their accumulated outstanding bills.
This followed the deployment of thousands of prepaid meters by the electricity firm to consumers in the area to further close the metering gap.
Shomolu area of Lagos State is noted for its huge concentration of printers and other heavy electricity consumers.
It was discovered that out of all the customers meter, about 660 are yet to migrate and utilize the new prepaid meters due to their inability to meet the demands of the disco in offsetting their previous accumulated bills.
The customers therefore seek a percentage discount on their huge outstanding debt.
Hitherto, the customers had lamented the burden of excessive and outrageous billing by the company, hence sought for pre-paid meters.
This made IE to deploy over 1,500 prepaid meters to the community recently. However, some communities in Shomolu are yet to migrate from the analogue meters or estimated billing to the prepaid meters.
Speaking on the issue, Chairman of Shomolu Community Development Committee (CDC), Mr Adedapo Oduguwa, commended Ikeja Electric for the massive deployment of meters to the area and environs, but advised the firm to ensure that migration of customers to the prepayment metering is made a lot easier by looking into the contentious issues relating to outstanding electricity bills.
He said, “This will enable customers migrate immediately to recharge after exhausting the initial token installed in the meter.
“We request for debt forgiveness. So many properties are abandoned and not occupied but are still served bills which is mounting.
“It is not easy for some people to clear the backlog because it was previous occupiers of the buildings that accumulated the bills passed down for so many years.
“If the company makes the migration easy for us, we will be in a position to spread the gospel that meter is free just as the police will say bail is free.”
In similar vein, president of the co-operative society of the association of printers in Shomolu, Mr Babajide Mark Anthony, expressed his joy at the new development and confirmed that the association is ready to cooperate with the DisCo to ensure smooth operation.
He further advised the firm to fast-track the installation of meters and also attend to minor complaints on time, in order to build more trust and instil confidence in its customers.
The Business Manager of IE in charge of Shomolu, Engr. Taofeek Basanya, when contacted, said the company has made migration easy for customers.
According to him, “we want consumers to come forward with their bills and pay 30 percent of their outstanding, the rest can be spread out over a long period of time as long as they recharge their prepaid meters.
“Customers should not hide under the guise of community associations to frustrate the company’s efforts of metering more people, but should on individual basis come to our office to make their claims and dispute about their bills.”
In his reaction, IE’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Felix Ofulue, reiterated IE’s position to sustain the metering exercise in an equitable manner such that all category of customers that are yet to be metered will definitely benefit from the roll-out plan.
However, the company spokesman expressed concerns about the trend of asset compromise being witnessed in some the areas that have already been metered.
According to him, “our records reveal that a lot of customers who were recently metered, especially in Shomolu and environs have not vended or purchased units on their meters several weeks after exhausting the initial token. Typically, this is the process that should follow after the complimentary units on the prepaid meter have been exhausted.”
He called on metered customers to resist the urge to bypass meters, rather urging them to manage their energy consumption prudently. He also warned that IE would apply the authorized sanctions against any customer who engages in the act of meter bypassing.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices climbed about 2 per cent to a one-month high on Tuesday after the US reportedly reimposed a naval blockade on Iran, which will reduce oil flows from the region through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent futures rose by $1.43 or 1.7 per cent to settle at $84.73 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $1.20 or 1.5 per cent to $79.34 a barrel.
Brent closed at its highest since June 12, and WTI at its highest since June 15. The closing price increase kept Brent in technically overbought territory for a second day in a row for the first time since March.
Before the Iran war, about 20 per cent of global oil supplies flowed through the strait.
US President Donald Trump stepped back from a proposal to charge a 20 per cent fee to guard the Strait of Hormuz as part of the conflict with Iran, saying he would instead seek investment deals with Gulf states.
US forces had carried out waves of attacks for the third night after Iran said it had closed the strait. President Trump on Monday reinstated a blockade of Iranian shipping and proposed the fee, but hours before the fee was to take effect, the American President said the strait was open to all shipping traffic except that of Iran.
The renewed attacks have fed doubts that a memorandum of understanding signed last month will lead to a permanent halt in the war that has disrupted global energy supplies and stoked inflation fears.
Data showed that US consumer inflation slowed more than expected in June as energy prices retreated, but financial markets still expect an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh on Tuesday vowed to “do my job” if challenged by President Trump, who has said he wants the US central bank to cut interest rates and boost economic growth.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the US fell by 564,000 barrels in the week ending July 10. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 399,000 barrels.
Although commercial crude oil inventories excluding the SPR have been falling rapidly for three months now, shedding just over 60 million barrels over the last twelve weeks, US crude inventories are only down 9.2 million barrels so far this year. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release its report later on Wednesday.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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