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The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has sealed the Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) headquarters in Lagos for allegedly violating consumer rights.
In a statement on Thursday, the commission said the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had issued a binding decision directing the distribution company (DisCo) “to unbundle a maximum demand account into twenty non-maximum demand accounts”.
A maximum demand (MD) account is a system for large electricity consumers (commercial, industrial, or big residential) with peak power usage that is high enough to require dedicated infrastructure, like their own transformer.
The FCCPC said the directive was intended to recognise the nineteen residential units and the complainant’s service point as separate customer units and to provide the necessary metering and connection.
“Ikeja Electric did not carry out that decision,” the commission said.
“Because of this failure, the complainant has been without electricity supply for more than two and a half years.
“This was despite paying all charges requested by Ikeja Electric and meeting every obligation. The lack of electricity has prevented the complainant from putting the nineteen residential units to use.”
The FCCPC said the sealing exercise followed unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issues through warnings and dialogue.
The commission listed one of such attempts to include a directive to the company in April 2025 on the steps required and the timelines for compliance.
“No action was taken. On 2nd October 2025, the Commission issued a Compliance Notice requiring full compliance within seven business days,” the statement reads.
“The company still did not comply.”
Commenting on the issue, Bola Adeyinka, the FCCPC’s director of surveillance and investigation, said the move to seal the building aligns with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018.
“Sealing this facility is a proportionate enforcement measure taken only after repeated engagement and several opportunities for voluntary compliance,” Adeyinka said.
“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.”
IKEJA ELECTRIC: WE’RE RESOLVING THE ISSUE
Reacting to the development, Kingsley Okotie, head of corporate affairs at Ikeja Electric, told TheCable that the company was still in discussions with the affected party and had not reached a resolution before its headquarters was sealed.
“It’s unbelievable that things can get to this kind of a situation where a utility service provider will have its head office sealed just because of a customer-related issue that the parties involved are still engaging,” he said.
“That we’ve not reached an amicable resolution does not mean we’re not engaging.
“And there is evidence to support that. From the last correspondence we got from the FCCPC, and our own reply to them, pointing out some observations and technicalities that would make what they have asked us to do not be in the interest of everyone involved.”
Okotie said the organisation believes that such engagements should continue “until we have an amicable resolution”.
“So what we saw today is totally uncalled for,” he said.
“Actually we understand fully what we are all out to do, both ourselves as a service provider, and the commission too, who is meant to protect the interests of consumers.
“Will you protect the interests of one consumer at the expense of several millions and thousands of others?”
Okotie said if not for Ikeja Electric’s business continuity plans, sealing the company’s headquarters could have disrupted power supply across Lagos and possibly beyond.
He said the company will continue to discharge its responsibility, “and let people see light and have light to use as long as we are getting the supply from transmission”.
