The FCCPC has sealed the Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) headquarters in Lagos, signaling a strong motion against what it terms ongoing violations of consumer rights and a failure to follow regulatory directives.
The enforcement action followed Ikeja Electric’s refusal to implement a binding decision issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), according to a source at the FCCPC who spoke with BusinessDay on Thursday.
Under the NERC directive, IKEDC was instructed to unbundle a maximum demand (MD) account into twenty separate non-maximum demand accounts. A maximum demand account is typically used for large consumers with very high peak electricity usage requiring specialized infrastructure, such as dedicated transformers.
In more detail, the FCCPC noted that the directive required separating nineteen residential units and one service point into individual customer accounts, each with proper metering and connection.
"Ikeja Electric did not carry out that decision," the commission stated. The delay meant the complainant endured a power outage for more than two and a half years despite meeting all financial obligations. The extended outage has left the nineteen residential units unusable.
The FCCPC said the sealing action followed repeated warnings, compliance notices, and failed attempts at dialogue with the DisCo. It cited an April 2025 directive detailing steps and timelines for compliance, along with an October 2, 2025 Compliance Notice granting seven business days for full adherence, both of which were ignored.
This move highlights a broader tension between regulators and distributors over enforcing consumer-rights protections and timely service restoration, underscoring how compliance failures can escalate to operational shutdowns when talks stall.
