This is a clear
example of what happens when “leaders” in government lack the insight and
compassion as well as common sense requisite for policy formulation and
execution.
I live in Opebi, Ikeja
Lagos. My monthly PHCN energy bill ranges
from 2,300 naira to 3,500 naira (with the new energy tariff regime). I’m
single, have few electronic gadgets and spend more of my time outside my house
on weekdays. This explains why I have managed to maintain a fairly low tariff
on my electricity bills.
So you can imagine my disbelief
upon finding out that my bill read 16,000 naira for the month of October. My initial assessment was that it must have
been human error by the person who read my meter. I went to the PHCN office on
Ikosi Road, Oregun and lodged a complaint
I spoke with the both
the marketing manager and the woman who reads my meter and was shocked to find
out that the reason for the outrageous bill I was served was due to a new PHCN
policy. The policy states or rather assumes that no individual can use less
that 200 units of energy per month. In the event that this occurs, it must mean
that the individual or household has tampered with the meter. The penalty for
this (whether one is guilty or not) is to be slapped with a16,000 naira flat
rate equivalent to about 1200 energy units of electricity!
It doesn’t matter
whether you have one fridge or no TV set. It doesn’t matter if you do not have
air conditioning sets or no electric cookers. It doesn’t matter whether you
travel for three weeks on vacation with your family. It doesn’t even matter if
the transformer has a fault. Once the energy unit reads 200 or less, you must
be a thief and a scoundrel cheating the government.
Of course I tried to
make a case by showing my bill payments from February to date which amounted to
an average of about 3,000 naira per month. It was saddening to realise that no
one could offer any satisfactory response or even empathize with me. All they
could say was this: “just pay the bill and apply for the installation of the digital
meter”.
The problem remains
unresolved and I am faced with the stack reality of another 16,000 naira bill in
November. Going by my average monthly
energy consumption, I’m definitely in big trouble! It is wrong for PHCN to
force me to pay for power I did not consume.
I tried to fill out
the forms for the digital meters and the forms were not even available. And if
it were, it could take ages to be installed. And while I wait, 16,000 naira electric
bills would be forced down my throat except I decide to live in darkness.
Another option I may
employ is to leave all my fans and lights on through the day, every day, whether
I’m in or not. This may help push my monthly consumption to above 200 units of
energy!
It is not fair for me
to pay over 14,000 naira extra than I should every month for electricity. The
fact that somebody somewhere behind a desk thought this policy out without
considering that some people may by choice use less electricity is lunacy. This
is a stupid policy at best and people with such unintelligent approach to
issues should not be allowed to roam free let alone be policy makers.
I want to use this
medium to ask anyone out there for help. If you know anyone who can correct
this anomaly or can lend expert legal advice on what I should do about this matter,
please do contact me.
Richard Obaitan
(08063805100,
robaitan@gmail.com.)
