The Ibadan Electricity, Distribution Company, IBEDC, has denied engaging in sales of Unistar meters, stating that it stopped the sales since 2014 in compliance with the directive of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC.
The distribution company also insisted that any customer who purchased the Unistar meter after 2014 neither boughtid from IBEDC nor pay for electricity used on those meters to the company whenever they vend.
In a statement by its Chief Operating Officer, COO, John Ayodele, IBEDC said that the management of Unistar Hi-Tech Systems Limited, the manufacturer of the meters, in a public disclaimer, disclosed that it has discontinued the production and the sale of such meters since 2014 in line with NERC’s directive.
Ayodele stated further that the Association of the Electrical Installer of Nigeria, AEIPON, which continues to promote the sale and installation of Unistar meter is not in any way affiliated to IBEDC nor represent the interest of the company.
Ayodele maintained that AEIPON took IBEDC to court in 2017, praying the court to compel the company to absorb the illegally sold and installed Unistar meters for some of its customers in Osun State.
He added that the court, in its judgment, noted that section 81 of the ESPR Act only binds NERC’s approved manufacturers, importers and that IBEDC is at liberty to choose from any of the meter providers approved by NERC.
Noting that the court, while 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, it held that because the meters were installed in IBEDC’s network illegally, it constitutes economic sabotage.
Ayodele insisted that IBEDC as a customer centric organization is committed to metering all its customers though the current National Mass Metering Program, NMMP, approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria, and appealed to its customers to be more cautious and not fall into the hands of fraudsters, who parade themselves as marketers, selling and installing illicit meters not recognized by the company or approved by NERC.
He said, “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 program kicks off soon. Do not pay anyone for meter or installation.”
