By Dipo Olowookere
Ikeja Electric has been commended for the swift installation of meters in the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Estate in Isheri, Lagos.
The meters were installed by the leading electricity company under the Meter Asset Provider scheme (MAP) put in place to narrow the metering gap in the country.
Speaking on behalf of the community, Chairman of the Community Development Association (CDA), Mr Bashir Momodu, lauded the firm for the development, saying they can now control their consumption as they now pay for whatever they use. He advised IE to improve on its service in terms of power supply.
Another landlord in the estate, Engr. Kunle Olaifa, while commending the Disco as well, noted that installation of meters will gradually eliminate the issue of outstanding bills left by tenants when moving houses.
Mrs Abimbola Ande expressed joy that with the installation of meters, the burden of crazy bills has been lifted off her. According to her, a new Nigeria is emerging and she also revealed that she receives text messages informing her of the challenges whenever there is prolonged outage
In his response, the Acting Chief Commercial Officer Ikeja Electric, Ugochukwu Obi-Chukwu, reiterated IE’s commitment to bridging the metering gap across its network, through Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme.
“Ikeja Electric is deploying the meters in two phases, starting with Shomolu, Ikorodu and Abule-Egba Business Units.
“The second phase will now include Akowonjo, Ikeja and Oshodi Business Units. We have already commenced MAP in the Shomolu Business Unit, with the metering of Unilag Estate in Isheri and Magodo, which is currently ongoing. The unique demography of these areas actually made the survey of customers very easy,” he explained.
He advised customers to register for MAP through map.ikejaelectric.com using their Ikeja Electric’s account number on the bill to update their KYC (Know Your Customer) details, after which a survey will be carried out to determine the type of meter that will be suitable for their premises.
He said customers will be advised to pay based on the survey and the meter will be installed within 10 days after payment.
Mr Obi-Chukwu noted that the company has put measures in place to ensure that the meters are not by-passed, that there are monitoring team patrolling the network on daily basis to cross check the meters and whoever is caught to have by-passed the meter will be sanctioned accordingly.
“The offender will be made to pay fine of N50,000 if it’s single phase meter and N100,000 for by-passing three phase meter. Also, such customer will be charged for loss of revenue by billing the customer, as determined by Ikeja Electric. The fine depends on the nature and level of by-pass”. he said
He cautioned against energy theft and any form of illegal connection, advising them to go to the nearest Ikeja Electric’s office to make complaints or send mail to [email protected] or call IE Customer Care help lines 01-4883900, 01-7000250, 07000225543.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Adedapo Adesanya