IKEDC crazy bill: How I got justice through LASCOPA

By Isa Isawade

From time immemorial, I have been a faithful and responsible consumer of electricity, from the days it was generated, transmitted, and distributed by the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), through its metamorphosis into the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and eventually into the era of Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) following the Federal Government’s unbundling and full privatisation of the power sector in November 2013.

The DisCo responsible for my area (Ikola, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State) is the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC), otherwise known as Ikeja Electric (IE).

I have never defaulted in the payment of my electricity bills. Even in 2017, when an unconsumed bill with a whopping figure popularly known as a “crazy bill” was erroneously slammed on my account, I agreed to an arrangement with the distribution company to defray it through monthly instalments. This was despite the company admitting it was their error but insisting that I must still pay. I later discovered that many residents in our area suffered the same fate and were compelled to pay similarly bogus bills. I commenced payment in September 2017 and completed it in 2020.

While still dealing with this, sometime around January 2018, an official of Ikeja Electric brought two bills to my house. One was a counterfeit bill, bearing discrepancies in the name and address, a different account number, no meter number, and a huge debt figure. I was alarmed. The official immediately withdrew the fake bill and promised to resolve the issue at their office.

Despite this assurance, the fake bill continued to arrive alongside the genuine one. When I personally visited the IE office to lodge a complaint, I was advised to continue paying my original bill and to submit a formal letter of complaint, attaching photocopies of both bills and a photograph of my premises. I complied.

When the fake bill persisted, I contacted the IE office again and was assured that the error had been corrected and that the duplicated bill would soon stop coming. True to their word, the bill ceased after the last one in October 2018, by which time the accumulated fictitious debt stood at ₦159,375.60.

Shockingly, seven years later, on 25 June 2025, some officials of Ikeja Electric, led by one Kazeem, invaded my compound with a demand notice for an “outstanding debt.” They instructed me to pay at their Alaguntan, Iyana-Ipaja office or risk disconnection. To my utter disbelief, it was the same fake bill I had been assured was rectified years earlier. All my explanations fell on deaf ears.

On Monday, 30 June 2025, I went to the IE office at Alaguntan and was referred to their customer care unit at Ponle Bus Stop, Egbeda. Before I could get there, I received a call from home informing me that my house had been disconnected by the same officials. I was too distraught to continue my journey.

I returned to Ponle on Wednesday, 2 July 2025. There, officials confirmed that I had been diligent in paying my bills and had been using a prepaid meter for years. An officer issued me a reference number and asked me to return to Alaguntan. The account officer there also acknowledged that the issue was their error but, astonishingly, concluded that since the debt figure already existed, I still had to pay it. Thus, a meter with an active credit balance was disconnected, unjustly plunging my household into darkness.

At this point, I confided in a colleague, Kazeem Ugbodaga, about the injustice and my intention to hire a lawyer. He laughed and advised me not to waste my money. He explained that the law regulating the energy sector protects consumers and that the Lagos State Government had gone further to establish a state-level mechanism to enforce these protections effectively.

He gave me the contact of one Toyin, an official of the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA), who, he said, would act promptly. Toyin provided the agency’s email address ([email protected]) and instructed me to submit a formal complaint. I did so on 8 July 2025, and within hours, I received a response signed by Daranijo Abdulkareem on behalf of the agency’s General Manager, acknowledging receipt and assuring me that the matter was being handled. I was pleasantly surprised by the swiftness- an uncommon experience for an ordinary citizen dealing with a government agency in Nigeria.

Within three days, an official of Ikeja Electric called to confirm my details and asked whether I had reported the matter to LASCOPA. I confirmed and provided all requested information. He sought permission to inspect my premises to confirm that I occupied only one flat with a single meter. I granted approval, and he later visited and verified my claims.

On Thursday, 28 August 2025, I received an SMS invitation from LASCOPA to attend a mediation meeting with IKEDC scheduled for Thursday, 4 September 2025.

“You are hereby invited to a stakeholders’ meeting with the IKEDC scheduled to hold on Thursday, 4th September, 2025, at the LASCOPA Head Office, 2B Soji Adepegba Close, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, by 10:00 a.m,” the SMS read.

On the appointed day, I arrived to meet a large crowd of IKEDC customers, all invited over various complaints. I was number twenty-something on the queue. I was shocked to realise the sheer volume of complaints the agency receives daily. Yet, the officials from top to bottom showed no fatigue and demanded no gratification. They attended to everyone with courtesy and diligence.

Despite the long queue, no one was turned back. We were called in batches to sit around a conference table in what resembled a courtroom, with LASCOPA panel members and the IKEDC team present. Being second-to-last in my batch afforded me the opportunity to observe how numerous cases were methodically and satisfactorily resolved. Even those whose cases were adjourned left encouraged, knowing progress had been made.

My case turned out to be one of the simplest. My account was clear, and the error lay squarely with IE, a conclusion already reached by their team before my turn. My account was reconciled to reflect only a ₦21,000 balance inherited from the defunct PHCN, representing amounts paid during the transition from estimated billing to post-paid billing. I was informed that PHCN failed to close old accounts after migrating balances, and these outstanding sums formed part of the assets transferred to IKEDC during privatisation.

I found the resolution fair. The next day, I went to the IKEDC revenue office at Alaguntan and paid the reconciled sum. As instructed by the LASCOPA panel, I demanded a clearance, which was promptly issued.

That should have ended a nine-year dispute, but like a phoenix, the ugly bill resurfaced five weeks later, in October 2025, when I returned home to find another debt demand notice bearing the same disputed amount. Exasperated, I visited the IE revenue office again the following day. The officer apologised and explained that revenue teams had been rotated and the new team mistakenly used an old debt list. He immediately rectified the records in my presence and assured me that the IKEDC task force would never return to my house. Case closed.

This experience marked the second time a Lagos State Government agency proved to me that the notion that “no government institution works in Nigeria” is false. The first was the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA). Years ago, our quiet community of Agbenaje was subjected to relentless noise pollution by overzealous churches. All pleas failed until a lawyer advised us to report to LASEPA.

After initial resistance, including threats from the churches, LASEPA’s third intervention enforced compliance with environmental laws, restoring lasting peace to the community.

I use this opportunity to commend the incorruptible and diligent officials of LASEPA and LASCOPA, the agencies themselves, the Lagos State Government, and the successive administrations that established these institutions. Lagos State has given real meaning to governance.

Lagos is working.

*Isa Isawade is a journalist with PMNEWS. He could be reached via [email protected]