Aba Power Reassures Customers of Rapid Meter Roll out via MAP and Free Mass Metering.

The management of Aba Power has reassured customers of its commitment to addressing concerns over high electricity bills, acknowledging the impact of the current economic situation and rising inflation.

The company also notes that the improved power supply across its coverage area has contributed to higher consumption and, consequently, increased bills.

In a statement, Aba Power expressed empathy for customers and reaffirmed its efforts to ease the burden. The company announced that its free mass metering program will soon commence, with over 50,000 meters expected to arrive between April and May, in addition to the almost 20,000 that it has been installing since the beginning of this year.

Additionally, prepaid meters are currently available for purchase under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, with assurances of swift installation after payment.

The company emphasized that the availability of prepaid meters will provide customers greater control over their electricity usage and expenses.

With respect to the recent court case at Isialangwa High Court, Aba Power also clarified that the matter is still at its preliminary stages and no court judgment has been delivered by the judge.

Aba Power had challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter, which was instituted by 3 claimants on behalf of themselves and Aba Electricity Consumers Forum, a non-existent organisation completely unknown to law.

Whereas the court allowed the 3 claimants only to continue the matter on behalf of themselves as natural persons, the claimants did not substantiate by any shred of evidence that they have the mandate of Aba Power customers to institute the action on their behalf.

This is a major setback by the 3 claimants as the court case was mainly about other consumers, who have been dutifully paying their bills since the effective date of the new tariff at the beginning of the year. In their frustration, the 3 claimants are now resorting to media propaganda against Aba Power and have gone as far as even inciting our customers to not pay the official tariff.

They have also incited our customers to use force against our staff, including confiscating our wires. This has resulted in several maiming of our staff and damage to our vehicles and confiscation of our equipment by disgruntled elements, who will soon have their day with the law.

On the false allegation that the court gave a judgment, Edise clarified that no court has issued a halt to Aba Power operations or made any kind of pronouncement on the official tariffs constitutionally mandated by NERC.

The claimants have become so frustrated by their inability to achieve their sabotage of Aba Power business using court case and have petitioned to the Police Area Command, Aba, falsely alleging that Aba Power is contempt of the Court order, whereas no such order was given let alone broken.

If the claimants were so confident of their matter in court, they would have stayed in court but, they are running from court to the police and even sending petitions to other government agencies to see if they can be disruptive enough. Their lawyer was recently quoted to have written to security agencies not to protect Aba Power staff in carrying out their lawful duties.

This is a very dangerous move as it is meant to pave way for the jungle justice incited by the lawyer and his clients against Aba Power staff. We are taking note of all these illegal activities and will present them to the appropriate authorities in due course.

We continue to encourage our customers to continue paying their bills promptly to ensure uninterrupted service. We have been able to sustain uninterrupted power supply to all customer classes in various parts of the Aba Ring Fence as a result of diverse gas supply arrangements and network expansion and maintenance efforts we embarked on since late last year.

These things cost a lot of money and are priced in United States Dollars. With proper energy management our customers would make the most out of the significantly improved power availability.

The statement was made available by the company’s Brand and Communications Manager, Edise Ekong.