Customers within the franchise of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc. have been urged not to fall victims of fraudsters selling Unistar Prepaid Meters saying that the sales and installation of such meters had since been halted.
The Chief Operating Officer of IBEDC, John Ayodele, gave the urge in Ibadan on Monday, saying that it came to the notice of the company that some elements were engaging in sharp practices by deceiving members of the public within its catchment area to buy the outdated product.
Ayodele said, “The attention of the management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc. has been drawn to the activities of some unscrupulous agents operating within our franchise on the sale and installation of the defunct Unistar Prepaid meters. The management therefore wishes to state that IBEDC stopped the sales of the Unsitar meters to customers since 2014 in compliance with the directive of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission.
“To this end, any customer who purchased the Unistar meter after 2014, did not buy from IBEDC, neither do such customers pay for electricity used on those meters to IBEDC whenever they vend. The management of Unistar Hi-Tech Systems Limited, the manufacturer of the meters in a public disclaimer on the pages of the Punch newspaper of 14th June 2021, said it has discontinued the production and the sale of such meters since 2014 in line with NERC’s directive.
“The Association of the Electrical Installer of Nigeria that continue to promote the sale and installation of the Unistar meter is not in any way affiliated to IBEDC nor does it represent the interest of the company.”
It would be recalled that the association, in 2017, took IBEDC to court, praying that it should compel the company to absorb the illegally sold and installed Unistar meters for some customers in Osun State.
IBEDC said, “The court judgement on the case between Prince Anthony Atayero and others against IBEDC and another noted that Section 81 of the ESPR Act in its opinion, only binds NERC’s approved manufacturers, importers etc. and that IBEDC is at liberty to choose from any of the meter providers approved by NERC.
“Also, relying on the provision of Regulation 7 of the Electrical Installation Regulation, a subsidiary of EPSR Act, which provides that no electrical installation shall commence until a written permit has been obtained from the electricity supply authority, except where the supplier is the consumer of electricity generated, the court resolved this question in favour of IBEDC, as the plaintiffs failed to prove or show evidence that the said Unistar meters installed in IBEDC’s network was with its permission or consent.”
The Court also held that because the meters were installed in IBEDC’s network illegally, it constituted economic sabotage.
Despite the judgment of the Federal High Court, the Association of the Electrical Installer of Nigeria, in 2020, through a legal firm, N.O. Folorunsho and Co, wrote a letter, contesting IBEDC’s rights to disconnect illicit meters within its network and requested to install Unistar meters to customers.
“Our Legal Department in response to the letter, reinstated the court’s ruling in the case referenced above and declined the association’s request to install Unistar meters for customers within our franchise. This act, largely, is capable of misleading our esteemed customers and portraying the company as an organization that does not have regards for the rule of law,” it said.
In the light of this, Ayodele said IBEDC was committed to metering all its customers though the current National Mass Metering Programme approved by the Federal Government.
He, therefore, appealed to customers to be more cautious in order not to fall prey to fraudsters who parade themselves as marketers, selling and installing that are not meters not approved by the company or approved by NERC.
‘’From the 105,000 meters allocated to IBEDC under Phase zero of NMMP, we have metered over 69,000 of our customers while we continue to give free meters to customers within our network as the next phase of the programme kicks off soon. Do not pay anyone for meter or installation,’’ Ayodele advised.
He added that those who may want meters should visit any IBEDC website, its office closest to them or call its customer Care line for clarification.
