By Electricity consumers across Osun State say they’re being hit twice over by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, once with power that barely shows up and again with bills that assume it did.
The complaints, gathering steam on social media in recent days, describe a pattern where residents are billed at higher service-band rates while getting a fraction of the electricity those rates are supposed to guarantee.
When the same money buys different power
The confusion doesn’t stop at hours of supply. Several residents say the actual units they receive for a fixed amount keep shifting with no explanation attached. AbdulAzeez Ismail summed up the frustration directly: “Why would I buy 2k that will give me 8 units today but give me 12 units tomorrow and 6 units another day/time, same 2k?”
Afolabi Aderemi Abdulkabir went further, questioning whether Band A means anything at all in practice, given that households placed in the category are, in his words, still “struggling.”
Upgraded on paper, unchanged in reality
The loudest complaints are coming from residents whose feeders were recently bumped up the tariff ladder without any visible improvement in supply.
Sola Isola pointed to what looks like a company-wide pattern rather than an isolated glitch. “Are you even aware the company has moved a lot of people from Band C to A, removing Band B completely on their feeder and yet still undersupplying?” he asked.
Bright Olorungbotemi OneClass described some of these reclassifications as cosmetic at best. “Electricity supply is not stable in some of the new areas that were switched to Band A, yet residents are paying the higher tariff without enjoying the service,” he said.
Jare Ismahil Tiamiyu named Agunbelewo and Ilobu specifically as areas where the gap between what’s billed and what’s delivered is stark.
“People are on Band A but getting the supply of Band B or C,” he said. Ojeleke Fosayo Adetola painted the sharpest picture of life in Agunbelewo, alleging residents sometimes see less than 12 hours of power a day and can go several nights running with none at all.
The system behind the numbers
All of this plays out within Nigeria’s Service-Based Tariff structure, which classifies electricity customers by how many hours of supply their feeder is expected to deliver.
Under Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission standards, Band A customers are entitled to a minimum of 20 hours of daily power, with Bands B, C, D and E stepping down to 16, 12, eight and four hours respectively. IBEDC’s own framing ties these bands to actual supply availability, with movement between bands meant to track real changes in service, not the other way around.
A familiar complaint, flipped
This isn’t new territory for Osun. Back in March 2026, residents in several Osogbo communities protested at IBEDC’s regional office after being reclassified from Bands A and B down to Band C, at the time reporting roughly four hours of power daily, below even Band C’s own minimum. What’s happening now inverts that story: residents allege they’ve been pushed up to Band A on paper while the actual supply hasn’t followed.
Reactions to the situation are split. Some residents are urging others to escalate formal complaints to IBEDC rather than let frustration sit on social media alone; others argue the deeper issue is structural; that no one should be billed Band A rates for anything less than Band A service.
One resident, Mall Abdulazeez Abiodun-Chibuike Oyedele, raised a separate question about the pricing logic altogether. “If one is consuming more of a product, like buying in bulk, are they not supposed to be paying lesser prices?” he asked.
As of filing, IBEDC had not responded to the specific complaints circulating online.
