AASLAC tasks National Assembly to end DisCos’ prepaid meters extortion

A Nigerian group, Africa Anti-Slavery Coalition (AASLAC) has charged the National Assembly to use its oversight power to end the extortion of citizens through prepaid meters by the electricity distribution company (DisCos)

The group said the National Assembly should leverage its oversight powers and convene a public hearing in Lagos to address alleged extortion by electricity distribution companies (DisCos) through the prepaid metering system.

Speaking in Lagos this morning, the group’s Convener, Tony Masha, lamented that the prepaid metering system, intended to provide relief to electricity consumers, has become a tool for exploitation.

“The current practice in parts of Lagos Metropolis is for DisCos to lure unsuspecting consumers to fill forms for prepaid meters, and once that has been done, bills will begin to accumulate whether the prepaid meters were installed or not,” the group stated. “Thus, consumers are trapped through this fraudulent method into accumulating debts running into hundreds of thousands of Naira for prepaid meters that were never installed, let alone connected to the residences of those concerned. This is very unfortunate and must stop.”

Highlighting specific cases, AASLAC noted an incident in Gbagada under Ikeja Electric, where all prepaid meters in a compound were removed in the absence of the residents. Upon inquiry, the residents were reportedly told to pay over N367,000 for a prepaid meter that was applied for two years earlier to power a borehole but was never installed. Despite repeated complaints by the landlord, the bills continued to accumulate.

The group also detailed instances of indiscriminate disconnections, including cases where multiple buildings on the same street were disconnected because of unpaid bills by a few occupants. A landlord in Ojota had his electricity disconnected because a tenant on estimated billing defaulted, while another individual in Gbagada was reportedly forced to pay about N500,000 for electricity debts incurred by former occupants of a property he had demolished and rebuilt.

AASLAC accused DisCos of treating consumers with hostility, especially during the festive period, and called on the National Assembly to conduct undercover visits to DisCos’ offices to observe these alleged practices. “The good news is that the Senate itself has recognized that the privatization of the power sector in 2013 was a total failure and needs to be revisited,” the group added.

As part of proposed reforms, AASLAC urged lawmakers to gather testimonies from affected Nigerians and ensure that the power sector is sanitized to prevent further exploitation by DisCos. to leverage its oversight powers and convene a public hearing in Lagos to address alleged extortion by electricity distribution companies (DisCos) through the prepaid metering system.