FENRAD urges APLE to meter all consumers in Aba-ringed fence area

Stanley Ihedigbo

Advocating for an end to estimated billing, the Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development (FENRAD) has urged Aba Power Limited Electric (APLE) to meter all electricity consumers within the Aba Ring-Fenced Area.

According to the Executive Director, FENRAD, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, hopes were initially high that things, going forward, would change for the better.

“But from FENRAD’s findings, there are grey areas the Aba-based electricity distribution company has yet to address, and these areas form the thrust of this release.

“According to the FENRAD independent findings, Aba Power Limited Electric, APLE, having failed to meter Aba customers as promised earlier, resorted to what it calls “average vending” in billing unmetered consumers, which we consider a breach of the Provision in the Power Sector Reforms Act. APLE company said it uses the average amount of energy consumed by energy users in the same feeder to bill unmetered consumers. The question becomes, how reliable and accurate is this? What FENRAD discovered is that this method shortchanges poor consumers who do not use/own many electrical/electronic gadgets at home but are, under this arrangement, being billed crazily.

“The current tariff regime is not in tandem with the Aba earning capacity, even though Aba Power Limited is citing a rise in the cost of operation, inflation, and foreign exchange liquidity problems. In some places in Aba, the Foundation discovered that residents and businesses pay more for the consumption of near-unavailable energy than their monthly and annual house rents. Some unmetered consumers who live in a two-/three-room rented apartment (flat) in the Ogbor Hill axis pay as high as ₦45 000 to N50,000 monthly; some pay more. When this is considered vis-a-vis the ₦70,000 minimum wage, one could only wonder how the average Aba worker takes care of basic needs like feeding, clothing, and shelter,” he stressed.

He further said that the level of epileptic supply is very worrisome as APLE couldn’t fulfill the hours of supply as contained in the tariffs order which have Band A, & C and the Hours of energy supply each day for the Band

“APLE has yet to obey a subsisting court injunction mandating it to stop disconnection in the city. Contrarily, FENRAD gathered that disconnection continued after the court order
APLE saying it had not been served any order, even when ignorance is not an excuse. This makes the company a corporate lawbreaker instead of a good corporate citizen. Again, against the provision of regulatory laws and industry practice, APLE workers still seize people’s cable after disconnection. While non-payment of bills attracts supply disconnection, nothing guarantees confiscation of cable or wire.

“Businesses are going under by the day due to high electricity tariffs. With the current regime, owners of businesses and industries may be discouraged or may even divest, and this takes a toll on investment and the ease of doing business in Aba and its environs. This is the height of the irony given that Aba boasts and thrives on small-scale businesses that may likely go under if this regime continues.

“There are a lot of interventions in the energy sector going on in the electricity sector now. The World Bank, for example, is running a national electrification programme with innovations like SCADA and lots more”, he emphasized.

The Human Rights Activist explained that as it is, Geometric Power Limited (whose subsidiary is Aba Power Limited Electric, APLE) may not get it right with Aba.

” Going to national television to launder its image will never achieve the results that dialogue (with consumers) will always achieve. FENRAD is of the view that Aba Power Limited Electric, APLE subjects itself to the law. Because in a suit filed by the Aba Landlords Forum, with the suit number: HIN/05/2025, an expiarte order was given to Aba Power to stop disconnection of supply, after claiming it was not in receipt of summons still went ahead flauting court order. Ever since the motion was published on online media platforms and elsewhere, Aba Power Limited has yet to officially acknowledge its error. Sadly, the court is in Isiala Ngwa, within the jurisdiction of Aba Power Limited.

“It is horrible that after all the initial claims of having the capacity to install or maintain an independent power plant, the company still depends on national greed, and still uses old and moribund equipment that should have been evacuated. FENRAD calls on the company to accelerate the Meter Asset Programme, MAP to enable it to meter all consumers, Open dialogue with Aba Resident on the workable tariffs order, and broader her community engagement and interface This is because the issue of average vending, another name for estimated billing, will continue if all consumers are not included in the metering project. To claim “cost reflective tariff” logical, the gap in metering must be addressed,” he stated.