Eko Disco reiterates commitment to improved service delivery

The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) says it is dedicated to ensuring reliable power supply to its customers within the areas under its jurisdiction.

Mrs Rekhiat Momoh, acting Managing Director, EKEDC, gave the assurance during a town hall meeting, tagged, “Customers Consultative Forum” in Lagos on Thursday.

NEWSVERGE reports that customers at the forum were drawn from Ojo Business Unit, which covers Isashi, Mabaonu, Afro media and Celestial Market.

Others include Iba town, Iba new site, Agboroko, Igbo-Elerin, Ojo, Alaba, Agric, Okoko, Shibiri, Riverine and Jakande area.

Momoh, who was represented by Mr Samuel Edoho, General Manger, Commercial of EKEDC, emphasised the company’s resolve to address customer concerns and enhance service delivery in Ojo Business Unit.

According to her, the forum served as an avenue for customers to voice their issues, while also enabling EKEDC to gather feedback on how to better serve its customers in the covered regions.

The EKEDC’s boss noted that in spite of the challenging economic situation, affecting optimal performance of businesses across the country, the compay would continue to provide quality service and remarkable experience to its esteemed customers.

According to her, the company advises customers not to partake in any form of bribery nor condone extortion, or pay money to staff to influence or fast track service requests.

“We urge customers to formally lodge their complaints through the appropriate channels and obtain a Service Request Number (SRN) to enable tracking of such complaints until its finally resolved.

She revealed that some customers were still engaging in energy theft through meter by-pass, illegal connections and reconnections, saying that anyone caught involved in such criminal act would be prosecuted.

According to her, EKEDC has made substantial investments in transformers, injection substations, and other essential equipment to optimise service delivery.

She noted that adequate transformers were available to meet the needs of customers within the network.

“We have more than enough transformers to service our customers.

“EKEDC has invested huge amounts of money to procure equitment for replacement and new installations within its franchaise areas, ” he said.

On Band A electricity customers, EKEDC boss said that the company would ensure every customer within its network has supply, adding that every customer is entitled to it.

She also said that more customers within the Eko Electricity Distribution Company’s franchise would experience and enjoy a guaranteed minimum of 20 hours of power supply daily.

This, she noted, was in line with the newly approved Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approves the upgrade of 33 additional feeders to Band A.

She said that the 33 new Band A feeders were approved, making a total of 54 for EKEDC.

“In our bid to serve our customers better, we are looking to even add more feeders to the list of our Band A feeders so that more customers can enjoy a guaranteed 20 hours of power supply daily.

“It is also our commitment to ensure that customers under other service bands, that is, Bands B to E also enjoy their guaranteed minimum supply hours while we work to improve our power supply.

“We are working tirelessly to eliminate supply downtime within our franchise area and achieve our goal of a stable and uninterruptible power supply.” Momoh explained.

On metering, the EKEDC’s boss said that the company had metered over 400,000 customers out of over 600,000 customers, while planning to meter every customer within the stipulated time-frame.

She revealed that 60 per cent of of the company’s customers had been metered.

“We also plan to meter about 600,000 customers within the next five years, with an annual target of 120,000 meter installations from 2024 to 2028.

“The company had initiated a comprehensive five-year metering strategy, aimed at eliminating estimated billing across its network,” she added.

In his response, Mr Bayo Oladosu, Chairman of the EKEDC Customers Forum advised the company to create a platform for dialogue, address challenges and knowledge sharing to better serve the customers.

He urged EKEDC to invest more in effective service delivery and to prioritise resolving customer issues promptly to build and maintain trust.

Oladosu highlighted common customer concerns such as overbilling, erratic power supply, and infrastructure issues, stressing that the forum was essential in achieving peaceful resolutions.

He called on EKEDC to fulfil their promises to customers and ensure the installation of necessary equipment for improved service delivery.

Furthermore, he suggested the establishment of a dedicated platform for addressing customer issues amicably and recommended that customers take responsibility for securing EKEDC equipment in their communities.

The chairman also advised customers to report instances of meter bypass and energy theft to mitigate such practices.

Oladosu emphasised the importance of customer cooperation in preventing vandalism and reducing energy theft, which directly impact the operations of distribution companies.