BY OLUGBENGA SOYELE, Lagos
The Federal High Court in Lagos has restrained the Ikeja Electric PLC, five of its staff or any other person acting on the company’s behalf from disconnecting the electricity supply of its customers, Muse Busari pending the hearing and determination of the suit filed against it.
The trial judge, Justice Rilwan Aikawa, issued the restrained order against IKDC and its officials, after entertaining an ex parte application by Busari, who is also a lawyer.
Meanwhile, Justice Aikawa has fixed December 3, 2020, for hearing of the substantive suit.
Other respondents in the suit are: Yusuf Olanrewaju, Benedict B ( A.K.A Ben) , Ebenezer Olufinniyi, Gbolahan Saheed and Osama One.
The plaintiff, a resident of 15, Saint Finbarrs College Road, Akoko, Lagos, is asking for an order of the court directing parties to maintain status quo pending the hearing and determination of the suit, where he claimed that paying the sum of N6, 997.8 monthly based on the capping regulation of NERC: NERC/197/2020 taken effect from February 2020.
Busari is also seeking for an order restraining IKDC and other respondents, their privy, agents or any person or authority acting on their behalf or for them from disconnecting his electric supply if he continue to comply with the status quo of payment of N6, 997.8 approved and regulated for R2T under Shomolu Ikeja electric pending the just determination of the suit.
As grounds for his application, Busari said his house is number 5, Suenu Igbari Court under Shomolu Ikeja Electric Distribution Company which has been regulated by NERC capping on estimated billing to pay only N6,997.8 monthly if the consumers are unmetered with pre-paid metre or the metre reading of the consumer’s house is not used in calculating of the consumer consumption.
The plaintiff alleged that IKDC had since the beginning of 2019 been basing his electric consumption on arbitrary figures without reading the functional metre installed by the defendant themselves in the house, this the applicant said, always resulted in bogus and unsubstantiated amounts.
He further stated that IKDC and the defendants have sent him text messages Bill of September to his phone demanding the sum of N54, 800 for the month of September electric consumption contrary to the N25, 757, demanded for the month of August based on arbitrary estimation and that this is still being contested with the defendants.
The lawyer stated that unless the respondents are retrained, his electric supply may be disconnected through their usual Task Force, any time after October 18, 2020, this he said will cause untold hardship for his pregnant wife, children and other people living in the house who needed electric supply.
While IKDC and other respondents are yet to file any counter to the suit, the plaintiff however stated that he will continue to pay the sum of N6,997.80, as approved and regulated by NERC for R2T under the Shomolu area until the dispute is resolved.
