Alleged Consumer Right Violation: FCCPC Seals Ikeja Disco HQs

•Agency accuses firm of refusal to unbundle maximum demand customer

•Property not yet converted to residential apartment to aid unbundling, IE says

•Warns agency’s action may disrupt service to other customers

Peter Uzoho and Dike Onwuamaeze

Aided by dozens of armed Police and military officers, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) yesterday sealed and took over the Alausa headquarters of Ikeja Electric over alleged non-compliance of the utility firm to the Order of the Commission to unbundle a Maximum Demand customer property into 19 residential units with separate accounts and prepaid meters.

But Ikeja Electric has countered the commission and the customer in question, saying the property which is currently existing as a hotel and owned by Providence Nominees & Real Estate Ltd, has not been reconfigured into separate apartments to enable the Disco to proceed with unbundling it into 19 separate residential units.

When THISDAY visited the head office of the Disco, officials of the FCCPC had sealed the entire premises and forced all members of staff out, while customers who came for complaints and to recharge their accounts were turned back by the Commission.

In a statement read while addressing journalists at the event, the Director of Surveillance and Investigation, FCCPC, Mrs. Bola Adeyinka, said the sealing of the facility was a proportionate enforcement measure taken only after repeated engagement and several opportunities for voluntary compliance by Ikeja Electric.

“The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) is here today to enforce a Compliance Notice issued to Ikeja Electric Plc under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018.

“This action follows a long period of non-compliance. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) issued a binding decision directing Ikeja Electric to unbundle a Maximum Demand account into twenty non-Maximum Demand accounts.

“And also, to recognise each of the nineteen residential units and a service point owned by the complainant as separate customer units, and to provide the required metering and connection. Ikeja Electric did not carry out that decision”, Adeyinka argued.

She said because of the failure, the complainant has been without electricity supply for more than two and a half years despite paying all charges requested by Ikeja Electric and meeting every obligation.

According to the FCCPC director, the lack of electricity has prevented the complainant from putting the 19 residential units to use.

She noted the Commission engaged Ikeja Electric several times, notified the company of the complaint and the outstanding NERC decision.

In April 2025, Adeyinka said the commission issued a directive that set out the steps required and the timelines for compliance by the Disco but no action was taken.

On 2nd October 2025, she said the Commission issued a Compliance Notice to Ikeja Electric requiring full compliance within seven business days but the company still did not comply.

Providing FCCPC’s legal framework for this intervention, Adeyinka said Section 17 of the commission’s Act sets out the Commission’s functions, including resolving complaints, issuing directives, and taking enforcement action where breaches continue.

According her, Section 18 gives the Commission the powers required to ensure compliance with the Act.

She said this includes taking enforcement steps such as sealing premises where an undertaking’s conduct has created or prolonged consumer harm.

The director noted that Section 124 of the FCCPC Act prohibits harassment, coercion, undue influence or unfair tactics in the supply of goods or services.

She argued that withholding or frustrating access to a service in circumstances that cause avoidable hardship falls within this prohibition.

She maintains that Section 150 of the FCCPC Act allows the Commission to issue a Compliance Notice that specifies the steps an undertaking must take to remedy a contravention, adding that it also permits escalation where the undertaking ignores the notice.

Adeyinka further explained, “Section 155 makes it an offence for an undertaking to infringe consumer rights. These provisions provide the statutory basis for today’s action. Ikeja Electric’s sustained refusal to carry out a lawful regulatory decision, together with the prolonged deprivation of electricity to nineteen residential units, meets the threshold for intervention.

“Sealing this facility is a proportionate enforcement measure taken only after repeated engagement and several opportunities for voluntary compliance.

“The seal will remain in place until Ikeja Electric complies fully with the directives issued by both NERC and the FCCPC and provides written evidence of that compliance.

“Consumers are entitled to fair treatment and timely access to essential services. The Commission will continue to enforce the law to protect these rights and to ensure that service providers meet their obligations.”

But Ikeja Electric has countered the commission and the customer in question, saying the property which is currently existing as a hotel and owned by Providence Nominees & Real Estate Ltd, has not been reconfigured into separate apartments to enable the Disco to ptoceed with unbundling it into 20 separate residential units.

It also warned that the sealing of the facility by the FCCPC because of one customer may impact service provision to other customers as officials of the company were now denied access to the facility.

In a letter dated 14th October 2025, signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Folake Soetan and addressed to the Chairman of FCCPC, in acknowledgement of the agency’s earlier letter on 2nd October 2025, Ikeja Electric debunked the claim by the customer that it refused to unbundle it as orderd by NERC and FCCPC.

In the letter obtained by THISDAY, the company argued that the property which is currently existing as a hotel and owned by Providence Nominees & Real Estate Ltd, has not been reconfigured into separate apartments to enable the Disco to proceed with unbundling it into 20 separate residential units.

“Following the NERC Ikeja Forum’s directive in Appeal No. IFO/NERC/2024/10/11127, IE visited the said location for assessment and in view of implementing the ruling regarding unbundling of the existing Maximum Demand (MD) account and provision of 20 Non-Maximum Demand (NMD) prepaid meters.

“Upon site inspection, it was observed that the hotel structure remains in its original state and has not been converted into a residential building comprising 19 flats as represented by the Complainant.

“The premises still operate as a single consolidated facility, with no verifiable physical evidence of residential partitioning or individual dwelling units”, the Disco said.

From its observations and technical findings, Ikeja Electric said the building maintains the same transformer configuration and MD service connection, with no visible low-voltage network topology or internal sub-networking to support connection of 20 separate Non-Maximum Demand (NMD) meters.

The Disco said the site conditions of the property render it technically infeasible and unsafe to implement the unbundling as requested without appropriate reconfiguration by the customer as expected under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) and National Mass Metring Programme (NMMP) Regulation 2021 and the Customer Protection Regulation 2023.

Ikeja Electric reiterated that it remains fully committed to complying with the Forum’s decision within the limits of technical feasibility.

The Disco added, “We are willing to provide the Complainant with guidance and technical support on the process of procuring the 20 NMD meters at the customer’s cost, in line with the Forum’s directive.

“We will also continue to engage with the customer pending confirmation of the property’s configuration and readiness for connection as multiple residential units.

“Notwithstanding, we respectfully clarify that Ikeja Electric’s actions do not amount to ‘unfair tactics’ or ‘refusal to comply,’, as alleged by the Commission.

“Our conduct has been guided by technical, operational, and safety considerations, consistent with the NERC Metering Code, Customer Protection Regulation 2023, and the NERC Health and Safety Code.

“Accordingly, our approach reflects good faith compliance efforts rather than any form of non-cooperation or contravention of consumer rights.

“We reiterate that our commitment to full compliance with the Forum’s Decision and we happily invite the FCCPC to carry out a joint inspection of the property to independently ascertain the facts stated above and to confirm the readiness of the property to be served as expected of Ikeja Electric.”

Also speaking to THISDAY, the Head of Corporate Communications at Ikeja Electric, Mr. Kingsley Okotie, rued the action of the FCCPC, saying discussions were still ongoing to resolve the matter.

His words: “I’m aware that they claim that there is a non-compliance issue over a customer that we have not resolved within the time they wanted us to resolve it.”

He said the Disco had reservations concerning the ruling and made their position known to the same FCCPC.

“So, we’re a bit surprised at the way they have done now because this is a service provider, utilities for that matter, at the time where people need the best of supply from us especially as we approach the festive season.

“So, for us, the commitment remains the same. We try as much as possible to ensure that it doesn’t disrupt operations and supply of electricity to our customers while we try to also resolve the issue with them again because that has been ongoing.

“So, we didn’t expect them to take it this way because coming to seal our head office, of course, will have impact on operations if there are things that are dependent on the head office coordination.

“And that is what we are trying to avoid so that at the end of the day, customers do not suffer any issue regarding this in terms of service disruption”, Okotie said.

NERC did not comment on the development as its General Manager of Public Affairs, Dr. Usman Arabi, had not replied to THISDAY’s enquiry as of the time of filing in this report.