Ikeja military cantonment owes N1.57bn unpaid electricity bill

Electricity supply to Ikeja cantonment, Lagos, one of the foremost military information in the country has been restricted to two hours a day by Ikeja Electric following a huge electricity debt hanging on the military barrack.

BusinessDay investigation revealed that the army formation before privatisation was owing the company about N1.5 billion and currently owe it about N1.57 billion.

A source close to the power industry however said that the army formation has been paying paltry sum which most times could barely have effect on the total debt on ground.

Kola Adesina, chairman of Sahara Power group, Kola Adesina had while explaining the efforts of the company is making to recover some of the debts the being owed the utility company by customers across it operational area disclosed that electricity supply to the t military formation has been restricted to two hours a day

The chairman who spoke at a power roundtable organised by Sahara Power stated further that said the company must recover the money it is being owed if electricity generators must be paid.

According to him, the company is applying the carrot and stick approach especially for the federal government owned institutions that are highly indebted to Ikeja Discos.

He said with the illiquidity crises in the sector, no Disco can afford to meter its customers; as such capital investment cannot be borne by the Discos under present circumstances, as he blamed poor revenue collection on present tariff regime which he said is not sustainable.

He said with the illiquidity crises in the sector, no Disco can afford to meter its customers, adding that such capital investment cannot be borne by the Discos under present circumstances, as he blamed poor revenue collection on present tariff regime which he said is not sustainable.

Accumulated debt profile of customers under the Ikeja Electric Plc network has hit over N102 billion, a development that is hindering the planned expansion programme, as most its revenue are stuck with consumers who are reluctant to offset their outstanding bills.

Ikeja Electric Plc had introduced some innovations such as given customers discounts to encourage them to pay their debts but it seems not be yielding any positive result as the debt owed it keep mounting.

The sources said: “The company had introduced the debt discount initiative to enable customers to pay off their outstanding bills and meet their financial obligations to the company”.

The initiative, designed specifically for unmetered non-maximum demand customers, was put in place to provide an avenue to support customers especially those who are financially constrained by the present economic realities.

“The three tier scheme had provided a 10 per cent discount for customers who owe between N50,000 and N100,000.00; 15 per cent discount for those owing above N100,000 but less than N200,000, and 20 per cent discount for customers who owe above N=200,000. But the scheme had stopped since it was achieving the desired effect.

By our reporter