Electricity consumers in the South-South region have bemoaned the gradual destruction of small businesses in their area and in Nigeria as a whole, due to incessant power outages and high electricity tariffs.
The consumers laid their complaints while responding to a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Cross River.
According to findings, the consumers said they have had to find ways to cope with the electricity situation having no better alternative, decrying the exorbitant estimated bills charged to them even when there would have been little or no power supply for the month.
They, however, called on the government to further subsidise electricity and ensure stoppage of estimated billings in order to revive small businesses and alleviate the people’s suffering.
In Akwa Ibom, the residents of Atan Offot, Obio Etoi, Stadium Road, Aka Etinan, Obong Street, Idak Eyop, Mbeierebe Junction, Atiku Abubakar Way and its environs, all in Uyo metropolis, decried incessant power outages.
They said the amount of supply they received is not commensurate with the outrageous bills they are often given.
Mr Jeremiah Ukpong, a laundry services operator in Obio Etoi, said he spends an average of N5, 000 daily to run a generator for his business, lamenting that the little profit he makes has always been taken away by high petrol costs.
He said for about four months, his area had not received power supply from the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company as at the time of this report.
Ukpong, however, said that when the power eventually came, it was a ‘’low current’’ which was useless as he could not use it to iron customers’ clothes.
He accused some of the PHED staff of not rendering adequate service to customers, alleging that they are more keen to exploit to enlarge their pockets.
Mrs Theresa Donatus, a house wife and resident of Atiku Abubakar Way, alleged that the electricity company only supplies bills without the power.
“As you can see, we have no light and the situation has been like this for some time now.
“The unfortunate incident is that PHED has distributed their estimated bills without considering the fact that there is no electricity supply.
“Before, PHED used to give us N10, 000 monthly billing, now they are giving us N20, 000 without even four hours electricity supply in a day,” she lamented.
Mrs Patricia Inyang of Ekong Ekpeyong close, off Obong Street in Uyo, urged PHED to address estimated billing, saying that she receives N17, 000 monthly for a one-bedroom apartment
Inyang, who is a journalist, appealed to the PHED to supply customers with prepaid metres to avoid the outrageous billing.
Mr Aniefiok Udonquak, a landlord at Atan Offot, accused the electricity company of being insensitive to the people’s plight by not supplying them with prepaid meters, preferring, instead, to impose outrageous estimated bills on customers.
Accusing the distribution company of taking undue advantage of the people by forcing high estimated bills on them, Udonquak called on the government to subsidise power supply, pointing out that this would encourage small-scale businesses in the state to thrive, as power is at the centre of every productive economy in the world.
“I have observed that small businesses are closing down, due to epileptic power supply; it is difficult to pay for the estimated billings and sustain the business.
“With high cost of fuel and its attendant consequences, it is difficult for small businesses to break even,” he said.
In his remarks, Mr Augustine Jimmy, resident of Ikot Ekpene town also decried the untold hardship experienced by the people, especially business owners who could not operate without electricity.
Jimmy, who is into the hospitality business in Ikot Ekpene, said the epileptic power supply really affects his business, as he spends over N20, 000 everyday to fuel generators to run his business.
The epileptic electricity supply in Ikot Ekpene and its environs, he said, is something that governments should look into for small-scale businesses to survive.
Jimmy said before now, PHED used to give him estimated bills of N70,000 monthly with about six to eight hours of power supply, but last month, they brought a bill of N120, 000 with less than six hours of daily electricity supply.
“The situation is worrisome, very bad, so hectic, we are passing through very difficult times,” Jimmy lamented.
‘’Even after paying these high bills, the electricity supply is so poor that you have to be in business by buying petrol everyday to fuel your generator to be able run your business
“I appeal to governments to look into the power sector and find a lasting solution to the problems in the sector.”
According to Jimmy, there is no way small-scale businesses could grow without a steady supply of electricity at subsidised a rate.
However, a resident of Eket, Mrs Paulina Essien, said they enjoy about six to eight hours of electricity supply daily in the stadium road area of the city.
She said exorbitant billings have been of a serious concern to electricity consumers in the state, calling the regulatory authorities to prohibit estimated billings by the Discos.
Essien, however, called on PHED to provide all electricity customers with prepaid meters to avoid undue exploitation by the company.
In Rivers, the residents of Elioparanwo, Okporo, and Rumunduru communities in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area (LGA) voiced their frustration over the persistent electricity shortages affecting their communities.
They said that despite the erratic power supply, they are subjected to exorbitant estimated monthly bills, ranging from N50,000 for households to N150,000 for businesses.
Mrs Chinazor Daniel-Chukwu, a resident of Elioparanwo, bemoaned the situation, citing instances where they received as little as one to two hours of electricity per day, and sometimes, up to 19 days a month without power.
Daniel-Chukwu said residents of the community had written numerous times to the PHED regarding the unreliable electricity supply, to no avail.
“The most infuriating part is that every month, they bring an estimated bill amounting to N52,000 despite the erratic power supply.
“Even when my husband confronted the officials delivering the electricity bill, they failed to provide a reasonable explanation for the outrageous bill,” she lamented.
Similarly, a retired public servant, Mr Fyneface Diri, re-echoed the concerns, citing a four-month-long power outage in the Rumunduru community.
He said due to the prolonged power outage, he had been forced to invest heavily in solar panels to power his apartment.
According to him, “although the solar panels cost me a substantial sum, they have saved me from spending excessively on petrol to run my generator.”
Diri, however, expressed frustration over the persistent noise from neighbours’ generators, particularly at night and in the early hours of the morning.
Mrs Oroma Chile, a business owner in the community, stated that, aside from the sleepless nights, she also struggles to preserve her cooked food, lamenting that her business has suffered significantly due to the poor power supply situation.
She described as unfortunate a situation where customers are required to pay monthly electricity bills without receiving the corresponding service.
In Okporo community, Chukwudi Kingsley, a tricycle mechanic, decried the high cost of groceries and other essential consumables in the area, attributing it to the rising cost of generator fuel, owing to power outages.
Mrs Tolu James, 38, urged PHED to urgently address the persistent electricity blackouts, arguing that residents are effectively paying for darkness and being exploited by the company, adding that the irregular power supply is causing her husband to return home from work at odd hours, while her children are often forced to stay outdoors for extended periods due to the heat.
“We cannot preserve our food or charge our phones, and my toddler cries throughout every night owing to the heat and mosquito bites.
“Last night, my husband wanted to be intimate with me, but the heat was unbearable, so we could not do anything,” James lamented.
In Cross River, Mr John Akan, a resident of Calabar, stated that Nigerians are becoming adjusted to power failure in the nation despite the prevailing high electricity tariffs.
He said oftentimes, the discussion and consideration of tariff hike always find their way to the centre of the table but nobody would talk about the commensurate increase in service.
“The bill I received in my house for January 2025 was N11,800 but for February, it doubled to N22,000, not like we were given more power in February.
‘’In fact, we stayed without power for a week in February due to a little fault in our transformer that took a week before PHEDC responded.
“As always, Nigerians have found a way to cope which is by doing a lot of calculations before going to the market to buy any perishable that needs preservation,” he fumed.
According to him, those who have the wherewithal are turning to solar, inverter and generators, while those who cannot, devise traditional ways of preservation.
“My worry is the businesses that need power,” he stressed.
On his part, Mr Richard Etuk said he could not be talking about a hike in electricity tariff when his community in Calabar has not seen electricity for years.
Etuk said for years, they had had no transformer in his community and when the state government eventually installed one for them, PHED did not connect it.
“They tell you these things are free but you and I know better what the real situation is,” he agonized.
“In all the years, the Ikot Ekpo Community had been without power, our people had survived in different ways,’’ he said.
Etuk, however, called on relevant authorities to come to their aid by assisting them to connect the transformer to the power grid to light up the community.
