Rights Violation: Consumer Protection Body ‘FCCPC’ Seals Ikeja DisCo

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• Power outage worsens

BY BONNY AMADI

Power supply to different parts of Lagos which lately has remained erratic, gets more biting as the headquarters of the power distribution company which guarantees energy supply to larger Lagos communities has been shut down.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) sealed the Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) headquarters in Lagos for allegedly violating consumer rights.

In a statement on Thursday, the commission said the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had issued a binding decision directing the distribution company (DisCo) “to unbundle a maximum demand account into twenty non-maximum demand accounts”.

A maximum demand (MD) account is a system for large electricity consumers (commercial, industrial, or big residential) with peak power usage that is high enough to require dedicated infrastructure, like their own transformer.

The FCCPC said the directive was intended to recognise the nineteen residential units and the complainant’s service point as separate customer units and to provide the necessary metering and connection.

“Ikeja Electric did not carry out that decision,” the commission said.

“Because of this failure, the complainant has been without electricity supply for more than two and a half years.

“This was despite paying all charges requested by Ikeja Electric and meeting every obligation. The lack of electricity has prevented the complainant from putting the nineteen residential units to use.”

The FCCPC said the sealing exercise followed unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issues through warnings and dialogue.

The commission listed one of such attempts to include a directive to the company in April 2025 on the steps required and the timelines for compliance.

“No action was taken. On 2nd October 2025, the Commission issued a Compliance Notice requiring full compliance within seven business days,” the statement reads.

“The company still did not comply.” Commenting on the issue, Bola Adeyinka, the FCCPC’s director of surveillance and investigation, said the move to seal the building aligns with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018.