Contrary to the claim of the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) on cases of electricity meter bypass in the Victoria Garden City, Lekki, the resident Association of the estate under the aegis of the Victoria Garden City Property Owners and Residents Association (VGCPORA) have said it actually reported the matter to the electricity company.
Prepaid Meters
According to the Chairman of VGCPORA, Architect Olusegun Ladega in a statement said it was the association that brought the meter tampering incidents in the estate to the knowledge of EKEDC.
“Not only did we expose the incidents and residences where bypass of meters occurred, we encouraged the EKEDC to prosecute those residents engaged in this illegal activity, and we shall continue to deploy our internal management mechanism to identify cases of meter tampering.”
VGCPORA also noted that individual metering was not introduced in the estate a few months ago following agitations by residents for individual metering and billing, as claimed by the Managing Director of EKEDC. Ladega pointed out, that ‘’from inception more than 25 years ago, VGC residents were individually metered and billed’’.
He also added that‘’ despite residences having individual meters, VGC was billed as a single customer from June 2007 to July 2008, an arrangement that was declared illegal by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, thus leading to a reversion to status quo of individual metering and billing. We do not tolerate electricity power theft.”
Contrarily, the Managing Director of (EKEDC) Mr. Adeoye Fadeyibi, had at the media briefing claimed the company discovered the electricity meter tampering, and has planned to prosecute the offenders in which he claimed that ‘’no fewer than 15 residents of Victoria Garden City (VGC), are to be prosecuted for their alleged involvement in energy theft’’.