Mustapha Yekeen, a printing press operator, has expressed his frustration after receiving a disconnection notice from Ikeja Electric for an outstanding payment of N1,340,729.51. This incident occurred on November 8 in the Somolu area of Lagos State.
Mustapha was taken aback when he found out about the outstanding debt under an account bearing his name in the customer details. He believes that his name may have been mistakenly associated with the accounts of two different customers. Despite this, Ikeja Electric officials are insisting on the payment of the hefty debt linked to his account.
According to Mustapha, he became a customer of Ikeja Electric in 2016 when he rented a shop in Somolu. Initially using a postpaid connection, he switched to prepaid in 2018 and settled all previous debts.
During a recent visit by Ikeja Electric officials to his office, Mustapha was informed about an outstanding electricity bill which had his name on the account. When he raised concerns about the possibility of a customer having two accounts, similar to those in banks, his question was left unanswered. Instead, he was given the option of paying 50% of the over N1.3m bill.
Mustapha made a complaint at the Ikeja Electric Debt Management Office, presenting all the electricity bills for both the postpaid and prepaid accounts. However, one of the officials insisted that he pay at least 50% of the debt as his name was associated with the account.
He revealed that a co-tenant also received a disconnection notice from Ikeja Electric, with an outstanding payment of N1,340,739.51 bearing his name. Even though the account is reportedly abandoned, Mustapha questioned why his name was linked to it.
Concerned about the situation, Mustapha lodged a petition against Ikeja Electric on November 17 but has not received any feedback since then.
When approached for a response, the spokesperson for Ikeja Electric, Kingsley Okotie attributed the issue to operational processes and stated the need for an investigation. He advised Mustapha to make a formal complaint and follow the company’s procedures instead of resorting to the media.
