Excessive power charges: Reps label DISCOs fraudsters

Members of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee probing excessive electricity charges being levied on Nigerian consumers by Electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, yesterday, told stakeholders that power distribution operators in Nigeria were fraudsters.


This came on a day the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, revealed at a one-day investigative hearing organised by the ad-hoc committee, chaired by Rep Ajibola Israel Famurewa, that there was no record of metered customers and estimated billing for customers.

According to the apex bank, this is despite the disbursement of over N488 billion with an interest rate of 10 per cent, against the market rate of 23 per cent to DISCOs.

This is even as Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, said the House would soon pass a bill criminalising estimated billing by DISCOs.

Muazu Lawal (APC, Zamfara) shot the first salvo at representatives of the DISCOs when he said:  “I think Discos and others are not ready for the job before them. How can you be operating like that?  You just go about billing people the way you like without considering the actual power they consume. This happens everywhere in the country, including here in Abuja. This is unacceptable.”

“DISCOs are either operated by fraudsters or they are just extorting money from Nigerians. If you are not ready for the job, tell us you are not ready.”

All the lawmakers spoke in the same vein, noting that there was need to really deal with the manner  DISCOs and GENCOs had been operating in Nigeria.