Pay Band A Tariff, Get Band D Darkness: How Jalupon Close Became a Case Study in Nigeria’s Electricity Tariff Injustice

By Zik Zulu Okafor

In Jalupon Close, Surulere, Lagos, paying the highest tariff for electricity is one thing. Receiving the electricity itself however, is another matter . If there is any doubt, one only needs to visit this close-knit community under Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKEDC’s network . Here, the price of power is premium, but the supply remains acutely uncertain. In short, you pay the highest price for the supply of darkness.

Residents here were officially placed in Band A, the top tier under Nigeria’s service-based tariff regime. This high-end band promises a minimum of 20 hours of electricity supply per day. In exchange, you get the highest tariff.However, the stark reality has been an ugly story. Erratic power, inconsistent billing, and utter confusion over what Band A really means, have become the ordeal of Jalupon Close residents.

A Promise, Then a PuzzleWhen EKEDC announced that Jalupon Close would be moved from Band B (16 hours minimum) to Band A (20 to 21 hours minimum), roughly around May 2025, it came with expectations of longer electricity supply and a fairer reflection of charges paid.

But shockingly, residents noticed something strange. And it is this–some homes on the same street seemed to be enjoying longer supply, while others remained, inexplicably, on Band B levels of supply. But sometimes even the Band B dwellers enjoy the same duration of power supply as those on Band A.How could two homes just meters apart receive entirely different classifications and conflicting service outcomes, tariffs, under the same power grid?This inconsistency has left many feeling like pawns in a regulatory puzzle, unable to understand who sets the rules, who enforces them, and how they can be sure they are getting what they paid for.

The NERC Promise and the ProblemAccording to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Band System, electricity customers are segmented into service bands based on the average number of hours of electricity supply per day. For Band A it is a minimum of 20 hours. Band B customers must get minimum 16 hours while Band C is 12 hours at the lowest.There are other bands.Band D carries a minimum of eight hours while Band E customers manage life with four hours.Under NERC’s regulation, if a Distribution Company (DisCo) fails to consistently meet the minimum hours of supply, two things should happen :The affected area should be migrated to the appropriate band that reflects the actual supply it receives, and ‘compensation’ should be paid to residents for the shortfall in service, either through direct electricity credit or adjustments to billing.In some parts of the country, NERC has even ordered DisCos to compensate customers and downgrade underperforming feeders.Yet in Jalupon Close, residents struggle with this uncertainty.How, for instance, are daily supply hours measured for their street? Who verifies when the band changes from A to B? If compensation is due, how does one confirm it was carried out? How can neighbours experience different band assignments on the same street?Without transparency or accessible data, Jalupon Close residents are left to guess while still paying high tariffs as though they receive superior service. This surely is the height of arbitrariness in service.

Electricity Bills Without AccountabilityResidents say they are left reading bills that charge A rate while the service delivered doesn’t even resemble Band C supply. At best, it is Band D. Meanwhile, they have no reliable way toindependently track actual daily supply hours,confirm when EKEDC downgrades or upgrades a feeder and then confirm that any compensation for poor supply has been recorded.This isn’t merely an inconvenience. It is an opaque relationship. The EKEDC business has become a mystique that only the initiates, its staff, can understand. This is a sad breakdown of trust between citizens, a commercial utility, and a national regulator.

A Clear Call to NERCThe residents of Jalupon Close and countless Nigerians in similar situations certainly deserve a transparent, accountable electricity service system. And they are calling on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission toinvestigate this inconsistency on Jalupon Close and other affected areas under EKEDC’s franchise. And also insist that EKEDC should be ordered to make clear, public reporting of actual supply hours by feeder and street.EKEDC must openly publish real, verifiable information showing how many hours of electricity each area truly receives.“How can we not understand the basic things about what we are paying for? Everything looks complex, complicated and confusing”, said Barrister Lanre Ayo-Idowu, the Chairman of Jalupon Close Residents Association.Ayo-Idowu insists that NERC should demand real, traceable compensation mechanisms for service shortfalls; ensure band migrations are transparent, justified, and communicated directly to consumers. “Jalupon Close is a very enlightened community. We shouldn’t be made to look like some rustic folks”, he added tersely, clearly unhappy.The Jalupon Close Residents Association known as JACRA, demanded that all customers should be empowered to independently verify their band status via meter number or feeder information, and not just to assume what is stated on a bill.They hold a solemn conviction thatno electricity customer should feel like a pawn in a chess game, charged for a service they seldom receive. ” Nigerians deserve clarity, fairness, and accountability”, stressed JACRA’s Secretary, Remi Oduniyi. In his words, ” it is the responsibility of NERC to enforce the rules it set in motion. There shouldn’t be anything that is hazy or suspicious. Electricity has become part of our existence ” , he concluded.Indeed, there are already mechanisms designed to bring transparency to the process:DisCos are required to provide online portals where consumers can check their service band using their meter number.NERC uses data from grid operators and independent verification to assess whether DisCos are meeting supply commitments.But these tools are only useful if the data is accessible, accurate, and explained clearly to consumers.For the residents of Jalupon Close, the vision of reliable electricity promised by a Band A classification has become an elusive ideal. Their struggle reflects a wider national problem, a regulatory framework that, despite good intentions, has yet to deliver predictable, fair service to everyday Nigerians.It is now time for NERC, EKEDC, and all stakeholders in the power sector to ensure that service quality matches billing, that consumers are informed, and that accountability prevails over ambiguity.No one should pay Band A prices for Band C or D realities.Jalupon residents and indeed Nigerians must not be trapped in the grey zone between policy promises and operational failure.

Okafor wrote in from Lagos.