Residents of Osogbo, Osun State, who utilize prepaid meters have expressed concern over their inability to purchase electricity from the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, or IBEDC.
They are upset because they can’t use their phones to make sales.
They also took issue with being directed to the regional office of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, which is located in the State’s Station Road area, when they went to the IBEDC’s nearest office.
The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, or IBEDC, has acknowledged that the system’s unavailability is a result of users pressing the system to rollover their prepaid meters before the deadline.
Adeyemi Sherifat Bose, a client, claimed that she was compelled to visit the IBEDC regional office in Osogbo’s Station Road to make an electrical purchase.
“Before today, I used to vend online. But for days now, it has been difficult doing that. I was running low on electricity and in order not to be in darkness at the end of the day, I went to the Ogo-Oluwa office but was told there was no network that I should proceed to Station Road.
“On getting to the Station Road Office, I met a crowd who all came for the same purpose, to purchase electricity.
“I was number 58 on the line that exceeded 200 persons,” she lamented.
Another customer, Olajumoke Moses stated that she has been in darkness for the last three days without any hope of recharging her prepaid metre.
“It is my husband that recharges for me but he is not based in Osun. He has been telling me that it has become difficult for him to vend for me.
“He said he has been on it for days and it has been having network issues,” she said.
Some residents have speculated that what they were going through could be a deliberate ploy by IBEDC to eliminate online purchasing by its customers.
“They want to eliminate the middle man. They want all of us to be vending from their offices. In this day and age of technological advances, IBEDC is going back,” one of the customers said.
An online vendor, Olajumoke Anu said she had stopped vending for her customers.
She said,
“On many occasions, my account will be debited and no token will be sent. When I discovered that it was recurring, I stopped that part of my business until IBEDC sorts itself out.”
Reacting to the development, the Lead, Media Relations of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, Busolami Tunwase told Platinum Times that the problem may have arisen as a result of downtime on the system.
“Intermittently, there could be downtime but it doesn’t last for long. I think the pressure really is just the phobia of people getting cut off before the rollover date.
“The rollover date is in November and everybody trying to vend at once is the problem. We keep explaining to customers that we are here to attend to them so they don’t really need to stress themselves.
“They can go to our website and get the token. We observed that most people who want to vend also want to obtain a token.
“We have made available various options for them. They can vend and get the token. They can go to the website and get the token, they can also walk into our office and get the token. Customers aiming to vend and get the token have made the system to be under strain.
“That is why we made provisions for our staff to be at the office on weekends to attend to customers.
“We appeal to our customers that the cutoff time is still November. There is no need to rush.”