Residents of Mararaba, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa, have decried the ‘outrageous’ electricity tariff charged by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and threatened to protest.

In separate interviews on Sunday, they said the estimated bills distributed for August and September reflected a huge hike in tariff.

Richard Ekoja, a resident under the Mararaba business unit, said he received a bill of N22,269.70 for August and September, respectively, as against the N6,000 and N9,000 for the previous months.

“I don’t think there is any reason whatsoever for the AEDC to come up with this bill at a time like this when Nigerians are grappling with the harsh economic situation,“ he said.

Mr Ekoja, who faulted the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for phasing out the analogue meter in haste, said the company ought to have provided prepayment meters for consumers before taking such a decision.

Leonard Ogwuche, also under the Mararaba business unit, said AEDC was exploiting customers under the guise of estimated billing.

He said consumers in his area have always contributed money to repair faulty transformers and other minor repairs without getting a refund from the company.

Emmanuel Aleje, an engineer, said the outrageous bills distributed to consumers for the two months would further strain the frosty relationship between the company and the customers.

“I foresee a situation where this will cause more problems between the company and the customers rather than cementing the relationship between the duo.

“I think what the company should be doing now is to build confidence between it and its customers in order to retain their patronage,“ he said.

He said with this development, a number of customers who cannot pay the bills would consider other sources of power for their households.

Helen Abu, a food vendor and occupant of a room and parlour apartment, said since the bill was given to her, she has been thinking about where to source the money.

 Agbo Abuah, a welder, said the current electricity bills shared to customers are outrageous and appealed to the company for a downward review.

He said if the bills are retained, they (customers) would have no option but to resort to the language that would make AEDC revert to the old tariff.

There was widespread anger among electricity consumers when the bills were distributed to households in Mararaba.

An official of the company who spoke to NAN on anonymity said the new tariff has come to stay, adding that the company was paying so much to buy power.

“We cannot sell power to customers below the amount of money we bought from the generating company,“ he said.

He advised customers to go and buy prepayment meters to avoid the estimated billing.

(NAN)