•Consumers groan, lament heavy losses
From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Few days into the partial blackout in Abuja and the environs, electricity consumers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are already counting their losses.
While some said that they were caught off-guard, others claimed that although they were aware of the impending darkness, they did not have enough preventative mechanism to combat it.
Emmanuel Voorkyaa, who is into real estate, lost a client who came from Kaduna to buy a house worth N35 million because he had a low battery. When his client could not reach him he had to go back to Kaduna:
“Again, my (car) shaft got spoiled along Airport Road. I tried to call my mechanic but I could not reach him not knowing that he had a low battery. I towed it to my house. In the process of towing the car, the tow van broke my bumper and that cost me extra N20,000.”
A resident of Kuje (who pleaded anonymity) has a cold store. He told Daily Sun that when he heard about the news, he temporarily shut his store to avoid spoilage. He said; “the losses cannot be quantified” because he was literally out of business for sometime.
Ismail is an IT expert said: “The blackout has not affected me financially because I use alternative sources of power. I work on laptops.
I don’t use machinery. I don’t run something like a bakery or some sort of institution. The business has not been affected because over the years I have conditioned myself so that I will not be affected by light issues. It doesn’t have that fundamental effect on me like people that have refrigeration business.
I’m not operating a supermarket. I am not operating institutions that use machinery. Since they started the load shedding I have not been crippled as the average person should.
I use my auxiliary power like my laptop, phone.”
National president, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Executive Director, Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, Chief Princewill Okorie, said: “I have been on this issue for long. I don’t know whether the government listens. The distribution companies are operating as if they are above the government. It’s as if there’s a conspiracy against the Nigerian consumers. Consumers live at the mercy of the distribution companies in Nigeria.
“The 11 distribution companies treat Nigerians as slaves. I don’t know whether the government is aware of the security implications of the blackout. When they talk about terrorism and violent extremism, blackout is a factor that can lead to both.
“When people’s rights are abused, their resources are exploited. They are cheated and treated with levity and the people that should protect them look away. They are inviting crime. The security agencies have counter-terrorism in the Office of the National Security Adviser. They have the police. They have the civil defence.
“Don’t they know that the way electricity distribution companies are treating Nigerians has the tendency to cause violence and crime? Until they begin to look at it from that perspective nothing will work.
“There are lots of things that are happening to consumers in the electricity sector. What’s the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) doing? When there’s grid collapse and there’s a blackout, those who are not metered are billed as if they are metered.”
President, Electricity Consumer Protection (ECP), Kunle Olubiyo, described the two-week power outage as the height of irresponsibility “that is inconceivable, unimaginable and unacceptable. Women, housewives and others complain bitterly about the cost of the outage on their condiments and stockpiles of perishable items in their refrigerators.”
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) had announced that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would suffer blackout from January 6, 2025, following the relocation of 33KV DC Airport Feeder and 132 KV Kukwaba Apo Transmission Line along the Outer Southern Expressway.
Areas affected included Lugbe and environs; Airport Road, Kapwa, NNPC, Games Village, National Stadium, Eye Clinic, Indoor Complex, Christ Embassy Church and American International School.
Others were, Spring Court, American Embassy Quarters, EFCC Headquarters, Coca Cola, Railway, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), parts of Apo, parts of Gudu, Gbazango and environs; parts of Kubwa, Bwari and environs; parts of Jahi, parts of Jabi, Karu, Nyanya, Mararaba, Keffi and environs.