The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has sealed the corporate headquarters of Ikeja Electric over allegations of non-compliance and violation of consumer rights.
The operation took place on Thursday morning with security agents present, and staff members were directed out of the building before it was locked.
Ikeja Electric confirmed the development and said it was engaging the commission to ensure that customers were not negatively affected by the shutdown of the headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State.
FCCPC’s Director of Surveillance and Investigation, Bola Adeyinka, said the enforcement was carried out under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 after repeated engagements that did not produce compliance.
According to her, “Sealing this facility is a proportionate enforcement measure taken only after repeated engagement and several opportunities for voluntary compliance.” She added that “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.”
The commission explained that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission had issued a binding decision requiring Ikeja Electric to unbundle a Maximum Demand account into 20 non-Maximum Demand accounts. The directive required the company to recognise 19 residential units and a service point owned by the complainant as individual customer units, with corresponding metering and proper connection.
It was stated that Ikeja Electric did not implement the decision, leaving the complainant without electricity supply for more than two and a half years despite paying all charges and meeting every obligation. The lack of power supply prevented the use of the 19 residential units.
FCCPC said it had held several engagements with the company, including notifying it about the outstanding NERC decision. In April 2025, it issued a directive outlining the steps required for compliance and the timelines. The commission added that no action was taken, which led to a Compliance Notice issued on 2 October 2025 ordering full compliance within seven business days. The company still did not comply.
Ikeja Electric’s Head of Corporate Communications, Kingsley Okotie, acknowledged that the issue involved compliance steps requested by the commission. He said the company had written back with its reservations based on internal operations.
He stated, “It has to do with a compliance issue that was raised by the commission to us. And more like what we’re to do. But, of course, in the expected action, we had certain reservations based on our own internal operations and how it will work out.” He added that, “They are a legal entity, fully backed by law. So we had no choice but to allow them to do their work.”
Okotie noted that electricity distribution to customers had not been disrupted. He said, “Our commitment to continue to distribute electricity to consumers and our customers remains intact. And we are still doing that as we speak now.” He explained that operational centres were being coordinated to ensure that the issue involving a minority of customers did not affect the majority.
According to him, “Even though the headquarters premises have been sealed off, we are also ensuring that we do effective coordination of all our operational centres so that an issue that is involving a minority of people is not going to affect the majority of customers who need supply.”
He described the commission’s approach as unfortunate, saying the matter could have been resolved without media involvement. He stated, “Unfortunately, the approach is this way. It has gone out to the media, because they came with the media to carry out this activity.” He said the company remained focused on delivering electricity, adding, “There are better ways we would have handled this disagreement outside of what has happened, but it is what it is. We will come out of it as always.”
On concerns about prolonged sealing, Okotie said the company was working to prevent any operational impact. He explained, “We pray it doesn’t, but we don’t want it to affect our operations. That’s the commitment. We don’t want it to affect operations, because if we have a supply from the TCN, we have to distribute it.” He appealed for a resolution, saying the company hoped the issue would not affect customers across the network.
The situation remains under review as FCCPC maintains that the seal will not be lifted until full compliance is achieved, while Ikeja Electric continues internal adjustments aimed at fulfilling the directives without service disruption.
