Oscarline Onwuemenyi
07 January 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has said illegal connection and meter bypassing attracts a penalty of N52,000 for three-phase meter electricity customers, just as it urges the public to cultivate electricity safety culture.
The Service Manager of Dutse Business Unit, Mr. Gomina Mutalib who disclosed this at a safety tour of the AEDC headquarters staff to the Dutse service area in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) lamented the spate of illegal connections and unethical practices by non-electricity staff in the area.
He said, “There is a penalty attached to bypassing of meters and other criminal acts. If it is a single phase meter, then they will pay N21,000 reconnection fee inclusive as a penal payment while N52,000 is paid for three-phase meter lines. The N2,000 is for reconnection fee while the N50,000 is the penal charge.”
Mutalib, who decried the high-level sharp practices in the area, said, “The illegal electrical connection practices is so much here that have been trying to educate them on the dangers of quackery as practised by non-electricity staff.”
He gave an instance where some customers were disconnected by the company during an inspection because they had bypassed the installed meters, adding that until such customers come to the unit to clear their fines, they will not be reconnected to the electricity lines.