Small business owners bemoan incessant power outages, tariffs

BY NEWS DESK, MARCH 11, 2025 | 02:08 PM

Some electricity consumers in the South-South region have bemoaned the gradual destruction of small businesses in Nigeria due to incessant power outages and the high electricity tariffs.

The consumers made the remark while responding to the survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Cross River.

They said that they were forced to cope with the electricity situation, decrying the exorbitant estimated bills charged to them even when there was no power supply.

They, however, called on government to further subsidise electricity and ensure stoppage of estimated billings in order to revive small businesses and alleviate the people’s suffering.

In Akwa Ibom, the residents of Atan Offot, Obio Etoi, Stadium Road, Aka Etinan, Obong Street, Idak Eyop, Mbeierebe Junction, Atiku Abubakar Way and its environs, all in Uyo metropolis decried incessant power outages.

They said the amount of supply they received was not commensurate with the outrageous bill they were given.

Jeremiah Ukpong, a laundry services operator in Obio Etoi, said he spent N5, 000 daily to run generator for his business, lamenting that the little profit he made had always been taken away by fuel.

He said that for about four months, they had not received power supply from the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company in the area.

Mr Ukpong, however, said that when the power eventually came, it was a ‘’low current’’ which was useless as he could not use it to iron customers’ clothes.

He accused some of the PHED staff of not rendering adequate service to customers, alleging that they were keen to exploit to enlarge their pockets.

Speaking also, Theresa Donatus, a house wife and resident of Atiku Abubakar Way, alleged that the electricity company only supplied bills without considering the power supply.

“As you can see, we have no light and the situation has been like this for sometime now.

“The unfortunate incident is that PHED has distributed their estimated bills without considering the fact that there is no electricity supply.

“Before, PHED used to give us N10, 000 monthly billing, now they are giving us N20, 000 without even four hours electricity supply in a day,” she said.

Mrs Patricia Inyang of Ekong Ekpeyong close, off Obong Street in Uyo, urged PHED to address estimated billing, saying that she received N17, 000 monthly for a one bedroom apartment

Inyang, who is a journalist appealed to the PHED to supply customers with prepaid metres to avoid the outrageous billing.

Aniefiok Udonquak, a landlord at Atan Offot, accused the electricity company of being insensitive to the people’s plight by not supplying them with prepaid meters but preferred estimated billings.

He said that with the estimated bill, the distribution company was taking undue advantage of the people by forcing high bills on them, and called on Government to subsidise power supply.

He said that this would encourage small scale businesses in the state to thrive, as power is at the nation’s core of the economy.

“I have observed that small businesses are closing down, due to epileptic power supply; it is difficult to pay for the estimated billings and sustain the business.

“With high cost of fuel and its attendant consequences, it is difficult for small businesses to break even,” he said.

In his remarks, Augustine Jimmy, resident of Ikot Ekpene town also decried the untold hardship experienced by the people especially business owners who could not operate without electricity.

Mr Jimmy, who is into hospitality business in Ikot Ekpene, said that the epileptic power supply really affects his business, as he spent over N20, 000 everyday for fuel to run his business.

He said the epileptic electricity supply in Ikot Ekpene and its environs was something that governments should look into for small scale businesses to survive.

Mr Jimmy said before now, PHED used to give him estimated bills of N70, 000 monthly with about six to eight hours power supply, but last month, they brought a bill of N120, 000 with less than six hours electricity daily.

According to him, the situation is worisome, very bad, so hectic; we are passing through very difficult times.

‘’Even after paying these high bills, the electricity supply is so poor that you have to be in business by buying fuel everyday to run your business

“I appeal to Governments to look into the power sector and find a lasting solution to the problems in the sector.

Mr Jimmy said that there was no way small scale businesses could grow without steady supply of electricity at subsidised rate.

However, a resident of Eket, Mrs Paulina Essien, said they enjoyed about six to eight hours of electricity supply daily in the stadium road area of the city.

She said the exorbitant billings had been of a serious concern for electricity consumers in the state, adding that estimated billings should be stopped.

Mr Essien, however called on PHED to provide all electricity customers with prepaid meters to avoid undue exploitations by the the company.

In Rivers, the residents of Elioparanwo, Okporo, and Rumunduru communities in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, LGA, voiced their frustration over the persistent electricity shortages affecting their communities.

They said that despite the erratic power supply, they were subjected to exorbitant estimated monthly bills, ranging from N50,000 for households to N150,000 for businesses.

Chinazor Daniel-Chukwu, a resident of Elioparanwo, bemoaned the situation, citing instances where they received as little as one to two hours of electricity per day, and sometimes, up to 19 days a month without power.

Mr Daniel-Chukwu said that residents of the community had written numerous times to the PHED regarding the unreliable electricity supply, but no action had been taken.

“The most infuriating part is that every month, they bring an estimated bill amounting to N52,000 despite the erratic power supply.

“Even when my husband confronted the officials delivering the electricity bill, they failed to provide a reasonable explanation for the outrageous bill,” she stated.

Similarly, a retired public servant, Fyneface Diri, re-echoed the concerns, citing a four-month-long power outage in the Rumunduru community.

He said that due to the prolonged power outage, he had been forced to invest heavily in solar panels to power his apartment.

According to him, although the solar panels cost me a substantial sum, they have saved me from spending excessively on petrol to run my generator.

Mr Diri, however, expressed frustration over the persistent noise from neighbours’ generators, particularly at night and in the early hours of the morning.

Oroma Chile, a business owner in the community, stated that, aside from the sleepless nights, she also struggled to preserve her cooked food, lamenting that her business had suffered significantly due to the situation.

She described as unfortunate the situation where they were required to pay monthly electricity bills without receiving the corresponding service.

In Okporo community, Chukwudi Kingsley, a tricycle mechanic, decried the high cost of groceries and other essential consumable in the area, attributing it to the rising cost of generator fuel, owing to power outages.

Tolu James, 38, urged PHED to urgently address the persistent electricity blackouts, arguing that residents were effectively paying for darkness and being exploited by the company.

She added that the irregular power supply was causing her husband to return home from work at odd hours, while her children were often forced to stay outdoors for extended periods due to the heat.

“We cannot preserve our food or charge our phones, and my toddler cry throughout every night due to the heat and mosquito bites.

“Last night, my husband wanted to be intimate with me, but the heat was unbearable, so we could not do anything,” Mrs James lamented.

In Cross River, John Akan, a resident of Calabar, stated that Nigerians were becoming adjusted to power failure in the nation despite the tariff increase in the nation.

He said that often times, the discussion and consideration of tariff hike always found their way to the centre of the table but nobody would talk about the commensurate increase in service.

“The bill I received in my house for January 2025 was N11,800 but for February, it doubled to N22,000, not like we were given more power in February.

‘’In fact, we stayed without power for a week in February due to a little fault in our transformer that took a week before PHEDC responded.

“As always, Nigerians have found a way to cope which is by doing a lot of calculations before going to the market to buy any perishable that needs preservation.

According to him, those who have the wherewithal are turning to solar, inverter and generators, while those who cannot, devise traditional ways of preservation; my worry is the businesses that need power.

On his part, Richard Etuk said he could not be talking about hike in electricity tariff when his community in Calabar had not seen electricity for years.

Mr Etuk said for years, they had no transformer in his community and when the state government eventually installed one for them, PHED did not connect it.

“They tell you these things are free but you and I know better what the real situation on ground is.

“In all the years, the Ikot Ekpo Community had been without power, our people had survived in different ways,’’ he said.

Mr Etuk, however, called on relevant authorities to come to their aid by assisting them connect the transformer to the power grid to lighten up the community.

NAN