Uchenna Chibike (not real name), a marketing executive at an insurance firm, was elated when his agent took him to a two-bedroom apartment in Gbagada Phase 1, a Lagos suburb now bristling with new developments.
Tarred roads, relatively peaceful area with more residential buildings than commercial ones, a good drainage system and a functional borehole system made it attractive. The rent was N750,000 per year and Chibike was guaranteed of up to 10 hours power supply a day. He paid that same day because his agent convinced him three other intending tenants had indicated interest.
“It felt like a steal,” he told our correspondent while sitting in the waiting hall of the local office of Ikeja DisCo at Anthony, Lagos.
“It probably was a steal. It never occurred to me to confirm the electricity bill found hanging on the meter that had a debt of just N7,000. The house checked off all that was important on my list. I did not even sign an agreement,” he said.
Two weeks after Chibike moved into the property, officials of Ikeja DisCo disconnected his power. The demand notice issued urged him to pay 30 percent of the debt before he could be reconnected. The total debt on the meter was N765,000. The bill found hanging on the meter belonged to a different apartment. The agent said it was placed there in error.
Like Chibike, many Nigerians have fallen victim to a scam perpetrated by landlords in active connivance with greedy property agents in busy cities including Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
When seeking for a house, the tenant is often concerned with the facility and the environment, but many pay little attention to the electricity bill. When they ask for the bill, many do not confirm the authenticity by checking it against the meter number or going to visit the local DisCo office.
As a result, they are saddled with huge electricity debts after moving in. The landlord absolves himself of responsibility on the grounds that he leased the apartment, and the tenant is left carrying the bag. Investigations show that crooked landlords and agents sometimes hide the authentic bill from the intending tenants.
“I rented a family house in Somolu. It was the landlord’s child that lived in the apartment, so he was not paying electricity bills and no one told me until I paid for the house,” said Fikayo Sanni, an engineer who found himself with a demand notice to pay N480,000 after moving into a house in Somolu, Lagos.
Another victim, a lawyer, sued Ikeja DisCo and the DisCo settled the matter out of court by cancelling the debt. In some cases, tenants have agreed to pay the debt and requested that it be removed from their rent, but landlords have often refused.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has a regulation that places liability on the tenant leaving the apartment, but it is not enforced.
“It shows the failure of our systems that nothing can be done to recover debt from the previous tenant,” said Odunayo Oyasiji, a lawyer. “The only recourse is litigation which is expensive and time-consuming.”
DisCos are warning customers moving into a new apartment to make sure the apartment is not in debt.
“Tenants moving into new properties should ensure they are duly registered and not indebted to EEDC. This is to avoid inheriting unpaid electricity bills and being disconnected as a result,” Enugu DisCo warned.
The DisCo urged landlords to ensure tenants clear accumulated electricity bills before vacating their property to avoid unpaid bills to incoming tenants.
But sometimes, tenants leave under acrimonious circumstances with landlords. Some tenants are forced out due to huge debts on rent, while others abandon the lease under other unfavourable circumstances, thus complicating the situation.
Some landlords have facility managers; others run the property from a distance, albeit so badly, that the tenants cover most of the cost of repairs. These landlords would lack the moral right to demand for settlement of electricity debt before an indebted tenant vacates an apartment.
Ayodele Oni, energy lawyer and partner at Bloomfield law firm, urges tenant to ensure that every tenancy agreement carries a clause which specifically says they would not be responsible for pre-existing debts.
“You can contractually make it the liability of the landlord, ensure your tenancy agreement exempts you from pre-existing debt. Secondly, there was a regulation by NERC that when people move to a different place, their electricity liability remains with them; the landlord can find the tenant that moved and erase the debt from DisCo,” Oni said.
In the last three months of 2018, DisCos collected 65 percent of the value of electricity sold but remitted back to other operators only 33 percent of what they collected, and NERC is applying pressure. DisCos will step up collections and disconnections, further blowing up the issue.
ISAAC ANYAOGU
