Ikeja Electric Denies Suspending Prepaid Meter Installations

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel

The Ikeja Electric (IE) Plc has denied suspending prepaid meter installations, noting that the process was still ongoing, contrary to insinuations in some quarters.

This clarification was made by the Head of Corporate Communication of the organisation, Mr Felix Ofulue, who added that customers yet to be metered would be reached soon.

He explained that over 99 per cent of its 106,701 customers under its network in Lagos scheduled for metering through the federal government’s National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), amounting to 105,000, have had the gadgets installed in their premises.

“We have so far metered 105,000 customers under the NMMP and we are appealing to others yet to get their meters to be patient. The process of installing prepaid meters is ongoing and has not been discontinued as being insinuated by some persons.

“We are anticipating that the Phase One of the NMMP will begin soon which will give us the opportunity to meter more customers. Our vision at Ikeja Electric is for all customers to be metered as quickly as possible and those yet to be metered will definitely be metered,” he stated.

Further speaking on the development, Mr Ofulue appealed to the customers to help the DisCo protect its electrical installations and curtail the incidence of energy theft via its whistleblower program which was introduced recently.

Mr Ofulue further advised customers not to engage in any form of energy theft through bypassing their prepaid meters, warning that those caught with such offences will be dealt with according to the provisions of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) regulations.

Recall that in October 2020, Ikeja Electric rolled out prepaid meters under the NMMP as approved by the federal government as part of its effort to increase the metering rate in the country and close the gap of unmetered customers.

The NNMP was also launched to assist in reducing collection losses, while at the same time, increasing financial flows to achieve 100 per cent market remittance obligation of the Distribution Companies (DisCos).