The Jos Electricity Distribution Company on Saturday assured residents of Gombe State of improved service delivery, timely repairs of faulty transformers, and rollout of prepaid meters beginning September 2025.
Speaking during a Customer Consultative Forum held in Gombe, the State Operating Officer of JEDC, Rilwan Shehu, said the forum was organised to listen directly to customer complaints and find faster ways to resolve them.
“We are here because we feel our customers are important,” Shehu said. “This forum is an avenue where we meet our customers face to face to listen to their complaints and see how fast we can identify those challenges and resolve them.”
He expressed satisfaction with the turnout, noting that residents came out in large numbers to interact with the company.
“I’m very excited because all the customers came out to identify with us, their business partners in Jos Electric, and they opened up their minds,” he added. “The most important thing is, you have a problem and I have the solution. The solution is here with us in JEDC.”
On complaints about faulty transformers, Shehu stressed that the responsibility for repairs rests solely with the company, but urged customers to play their part by paying their bills promptly.
“Of course, the issue of repairing transformers is solidly on the shoulder of our company. But customers must have it at the back of their mind that their sole responsibility is to pay their bills as at when due,” he explained. “Once they pay, we’ll be encouraged to do whatever repairs they are expecting from us in a timely manner.”
Shehu noted that JEDC is set to begin metering customers on Band A, who enjoy up to 24-hour electricity supply, starting from September, before expanding to other categories.
“We’re the first in the country stepping into this,” he said. “By September, we’ll begin metering customers, starting with Band A. That doesn’t mean we won’t meter others, but we’re starting there.”
He also lamented the challenge of vandalism of power installations, describing it as a major setback to stable power supply.
“You wake up during the rainy season and realize cables of transformers have been cut away. We have bad eggs everywhere,” he said. “But we are working closely with security operatives. As I speak, about 11 suspects have been apprehended through the efforts of civil defence, DSS, and the police.”
Shehu explained that beyond the vandals themselves, there was a bigger concern over those who buy stolen materials.
“It is a cartel; it is a ring. The buyers are our major problem. Once they stop buying, there won’t be vandalism, because even if they steal, they won’t have anywhere to sell it,” he said.
The JEDC official noted that Gombe residents had shown improvement in bill payments, which has contributed to better service delivery.
“You will agree with me that there are some levels of improvement in Gombe,” he said. “That is as a result of bill payment. As they improve their payments, the sky will be our starting point.”
Shehu assured customers that JEDC would continue to work diligently to ensure stable power supply in the state, stressing that the company’s success is tied directly to customer cooperation.
“Without the customers, we cannot remain in business. And without us, they need us for service delivery. It’s a partnership, and we are determined to make it work,” he said.
On his part, Abubakar Lamido, a safety officer from headquarters, warned residents against interfering with their installation.
He said, “we are here to educate and enlighten the public on the the dangers of having contact with our installations.”
Lamido continued saying, “You see, these installations, they are the materials or the device or instrument that we use to render the public services, to make it very efficient.So, we are trying to enlighten the public that there is a danger associated with people having contact with these networks.They should go far away from them because, you know, electricity doesn’t talk, it doesn’t know who you are.”
Anas Sadiq, Metre Asset Provider desk officer JEDC said the distribution recovery programme is ongoing, stating that already they were already installing metres beginning from Plateau State.
“By the end of next month we will deploy metres to Gombe. We want to close the metering gaps in band A before proceeding to other bands,” he added.
A customer of JEDC, Dr Okezie Ejeagba, said he has had a lingering problem that lasted for more than two years,
urging authorities to refund his units following replacement of faulty metre.
He said, “I can’t be satisfied until I see my units. Because I’ve been here before, I’ve been at this level before where they told me it was going to be solved. It was never solved. So I can’t be satisfied until I get my units back.
