Electricity supply in Lagos worsened in the wake of oil marketers refusal to import and distribute petroleum products, an action which has led to scarcity of fuel and the grounding of economic activities.

The situation worsened at the weekend in some parts of the metropolis and was further compounded as most businesses and households could not run their power generating sets.

A barbing salon operator at Onigbogbo, Maryland, Ganiyu Oladosun, told our correspondent that for two days he could not attend to customers because he had no fuel to power his generator while public power had been unbearably erratic.

Another resident who runs a business centre said he could no longer continue to buy fuel at the black market.

“I have decided to close to customers as on Thursday I bought five liters of petrol for N1,500 and it did not last up to afternoon. We charge N5 for photocopy and when we increased customers protested. So we are running at a loss and has decided to shut down,” he lamented.

Ndirika Okonkwo runs a beer parlour at Emmanuel Street, Maryland Estate. She said, “My customers are complaining that my drinks are not cold and I can’t store meat in the fridge because there is no electricity. So I am losing patronage.”

Our correspondent who visited the Ikeja Electric (Ikeja DISCO) to make inquiry was told that the company receives an avalanche of complains and protests every day.One of the directors who pleaded anonymity said, “The situation is critical but customers are not ready to listen to us. The truth is that the problem is not from us. We require about 1,250 megawatts (mw) to service over 600,000 customers under our area of control. From Thursday through the weekend, we received just 250mw. What percentage of our customers can that serve?

“We don’t even know how to face the customers who also grieve over current billing situation but certainly we distribute what we receive,” he said.

In the coming months, he said the firm will commence installation of smart meters to customers at no fee so as to resolve the crises generated by estimated billing.

“It is one of the measures being put in place to serve our clients better, especially in the face of the yet-to-be resolved power supply,” he said.