The Sokoto State House of Assembly has received a petition from residents of Mana Housing Estate on alleged undue charges, irregular power supply and indiscriminate disconnection by Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KAEDCO).
The petitioners made the allegations in a letter signed by the Secretary General, Mana Housing Estate Development Association, Mr. Budah Abdulmuminu, presented at Tuesday’s plenary of the Assembly.
In the letter, the residents noted with dismay the lopsided and epileptic nature of power distribution in their area when compared to other parts of Sokoto metropolis.
“We receive daily electricity supply below our expectations. This is in spite of recent improvement in the payment of electricity bills by customers on the Mabera feeder.
“It is also disheartening to note that several attempts to make the authorities of KAEDCO ameliorate the plight of consumers in the area has always proved futile.
“This is due to alleged malfunctioning of a power breaker which has lingered on for a long time now without a sustained effort to forestall breakdown of the facility,” it said.
The letter alleged that officials of KAEDCO had in 2017 explained the issue of outrageous electricity billing which led to the sporadic hike in bills for majority of residents.
“This is a mechanism adopted by KAEDCO to make up for the deficit of expected income from unmetered customers.
“While describing the move as unjust and an act of extortion, several attempts by our association to reverse the trend proved abortive.
“Moreover, several requests for pre-paid meters have always met brickwalls due to the seeming inability to have all customers metered by KAEDCO,” it added.
The letter noted that it was worrisome that unsuspecting residents who presented their up-to-date evidence of electricity bill payment were told to pay additional 50 percent or have their houses disconnected.
“This is in spite of the short notice and without recourse to the current economic hardship occasioned by the scourge of COVID-19,” it said.
The Speaker, Alhaji Aminu Achida, referred the petition to the Joint House Committee on Public Petitions and that of Judiciary, Justice and Human Rights for scrutiny.
The committee is expected to report back to the Assembly in two weeks.
