Power distribution companies have decried the persistent non-payment of electricity bills by the military and government ministries, departments, and agencies, stressing that this is also responsible for the challenges facing the country’s power sector.
They also threatened to sue the military following the vandalism of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company by armed Air Force men.
The Executive Director of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, Sunday Oduntan, disclosed this while reacting to Thursday’s attack on the headquarters of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company.
Our correspondent, who was caught in the attack, recounted how he was physically assaulted by the armed men, who also took his phones away.
At about 7:40 am on Thursday, the armed men in military trucks invaded Ikeja Electric in Alausa, a stone’s throw from the office of the Lagos State Governor.
Aside from beating staff and anyone within and outside the premises, our correspondent reports that equipment and property worth millions of naira were vandalised and some taken away by the Air Force personnel to the Sam Ethnan Air Force Base in Ikeja.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent on the incident, Oduntan said, “We will take all possible legal action, and if we do not get justice, we will report it to the world. The whole world has to know. There can’t be a resolution without restitution. They have destroyed properties worth billions of naira. They have to fish out the culprits.”
He said it was time to name and shame all government institutions that had refused to pay their bills despite the efforts being made by President Bola Tinubu to clear the debts.
According to him, the debts owed by these institutions are in billions of naira, yet they keep enjoying electricity. Oduntan said the military has a penchant for not paying for electricity, thinking it is their right.
“The time has come to start naming and shaming all these MDAs that are not ready to pay. They owe millions of naira. Their refusal to pay is affecting the power sector adversely; it is killing our business. Unless people begin to pay as and when due, Nigeria will not get there.
This current President believes in the payment of MDA debts.
“He does not believe Aso Rock should be owing any debt; and when we threatened to disconnect the Aso Rock Villa last year due to arrears owed by previous governments, the President instructed them to pay in full, and they did. They’ve been paying consistently since then. That’s the sign of a good President who knows the meaning of bill payment and the sustainability of the value chain.
“But we still have a lot of agencies that do not pay electricity bills, and these military people are the major culprits. That’s why the Air Force Base in Ikeja is now a case in focus. They owe us N4.3bn, and they still came to beat us. A debtor tortured the creditor.
“We have to educate these people that electricity cannot be free; electricity is a product. These people need to understand that. There’s a lot of ignorance out there. The debts of the MDAs are in the billions because they are too many,” Oduntan said.
He emphasised that the military and other indebted government agencies are the ones responsible for Nigeria’s epileptic power supply. He noted that if the Discos couldn’t collect their tariffs, the sector would face serious financial constraints that would hinder power generation, transmission, and distribution.
According to him, attacks like the one from the Nigerian Air Force are one of the reasons investors would run away from the sector.
“These military and the MDAs are the ones responsible for the epileptic power supply we face in Nigeria. Imagine an Air Force Base alone, owing over N4bn. How do we pay the market? Our own is only 20 per cent of all the tariffs we collect. How can a generation company generate more power when the Discos are not able to remit money because they are not being paid?
“These are the problems. It’s a vicious cycle. If we don’t do the needful, there’s no way we can get there. How will investors come to Nigeria or the power sector if they know soldiers owing billions of naira will attack them if they attempt to ask for their money? They will not come,” he stated.
Oduntan further noted that the “Discos owe the generation companies money due to a lack of payments. The money that accrues to the market every month goes to the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. Everything they do is from the market, even their salary is paid from this tariff; the Transmission Company of Nigeria; the generation companies, me; and the gas suppliers.
“Gas suppliers are paid by the generation companies. Generation companies cannot pay the gas suppliers unless we remit upstream in the market. The debt to the Gencos rises every day. Every time you see power on, it is naira and kobo. The generation companies run their machines daily by burning gas or any other feedstock.”
Oduntan insisted that the Ikeja Air Force Base will not be reconnected unless the N4.3bn debt is paid.
He emphasised that there would be no resolution without restitution, saying no one should try to mount pressure on Ikeja Electric to reconnect the base unless the debt is paid and justice is served.
“We have been beaten several times without reporting it. We are used to being beaten by these mad dogs. It was the scale of this that created this noise, and the fact that you journalists were there, and you were also beaten.
“I have sent a note of caution that the presidency or Minister of Power or the regulators should not put pressure on our investors to reconnect Ikeja Air Force Base. They have started doing that. The Air Force personnel have started sending messages. The message read, ’I have instructions to ask you when you are going to restore power to the Air Force base’. That will not happen until they pay their debt.
“They said the armoury will explode. They don’t need power from the grid to take care of the armoury. They have generators there. They should just go and buy diesel to power the armoury. Nobody should blackmail us,” he cautioned.
He went on to say, “These military men see President Tinubu as a bloody civilian, unlike former Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Olusegun Obasanjo who are retired military men. This (attack) never happened when they were President; not at this scale. This was second only to the Kalakuta Republic invasion of 1978.
“It shows very clearly that they have no respect for constituted civilian authority because the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The minister of power issued a statement condemning the invasion. But that is not enough. That’s too little.
“What I expect him to say is that they have to fish out those people, and they must be punished from head to toe, and then there must be restitution. Whether it’s going to be the Minister of Defence, somebody has to pay for all the properties that were destroyed.”
The ANED spokesperson said the Discos would not relent until those who committed the “crime” against Ikeja Electric were openly brought to book, including the head of the force.
The Executive Director of Powerup Nigeria, Adetayo Adegbemle, also condemned the attack, saying it was regrettable.
An energy professor at the University of Lagos, Dayo Ayoade, said the armed forces are supposed to be disciplined, wondering why the Air Force descended to the level of attacking civilians and destroying their sources of livelihood. (Punch)
