For over a month, Adron Homes and Properties Limited has cut off the power supply to some landowners at the City of David Estate in Simawa, Ogun State, because they took the real estate firm to court.
The executives of the residents’ association
told FIJ that some of them took the legal route to challenge Adron Homes on
‘sole ownership’ and sole decision-making over the estate.
Residents said they bought plots of land in
the estate and also paid a separate development fee for the infrastructure of
common areas, such as fencing, sports pavilion and others.
“When we bought the land, we understood the
estate was for residential use, and a few commercial uses. We were told to pay
development fees for the common areas, and we did,” one of the executives
disclosed.
FIJ learnt that after some of the landowners had developed their properties and settled in, the real estate company ‘imposed’ a facility manager on them and mandated them to pay N250,000 as an annual service charge.
“The contract we signed does not grant Adron
Homes the right to manage the estate. That is what we are challenging in court.
They cannot impose themselves as the manager of the estate. We paid them to
develop and they have developed it, so they should hand over the estate,” one
of them said.
“If they are not handing over, this means we
are all joint owners of the estate, and we have to make joint decisions about
the estate.”
When Adron Homes appointed a facility manager
in the estate, the residents opposed it on the grounds that the company cannot
unilaterally make such an appointment without their consent.
For these residents, it is one thing for the
company to demand a service charge without involving them in decision-making
and quite another to provide actual value for the payment.
One of the residents explained: “How can they
be demanding a service charge when there is no service they are providing? They
said that the internal security of the estate lies with the residents, and that
we should make arrangements by ourselves, and we did.
“Everybody in the estate cleans the area they
occupy, and we dispose our waste individually. In any case, we are paying for
the power we are using.
“In a nutshell, there is no service they are
offering that suggests that we should be paying them a service charge of
N250,000 per annum. We cannot be paying that and not get value for the payment.
What service are they giving us for that amount?”
The residents said that despite a court order
issued in January mandating both parties to maintain the status quo pending the
resolution of the case, Adron Homes returned in early May to disconnect the
homeowners’ electricity supply.
FIJ understands that while 31 landowners jointly took Adron Homes to court, only 21 of them have fully developed their houses and currently reside in the estate. It is these 21 residents whose power supply was disconnected.
| The court order. |
“Adron Homes came in the early days of May to
disconnect people from the national grid. And the people who were affected were
about 21 of the litigants, those whose properties are at the completion stage
and are residing there,” FIJ’s source explained.
“They did not communicate any official reason
for that, but from the letter of demand they sent that month, they gave
everyone seven days to pay the service charge, saying they would reconnect some
services, which include power.”
FIJ emailed Adron Homes on May 20, but no
acknowledgement or response came after six weeks.
Speaking with FIJ on Wednesday, one of the
residents said the situation remained the same. The source, who does not want
to be named, said Adron Homes wanted the litigants to either put an end to the
court case or stay disconnected from electricity.
“On June 20, they sent an email requesting
residents to show their proof of payment for the maintenance fee for services
they never provided,” said the source.
In response to this email, the executives of
the City of David Residents Association (CODRA) urged landowners to consider
the fact that they, not Adron Homes, were responsible for their daily water
needs, security and waste disposal, before paying for services they had not
received.
CODRA also pointed out that the electricity
supplied by Adron Homes, pending when the Ibadan Electricity Distribution
Company (IBEDC) set up its infrastructure, already came at a cost significantly
higher than government-approved tariffs. The association said Adron’s request
for a separate maintenance fee was unjustified and unreasonable.
More importantly, since 31 landowners are
already in court challenging the legality of Adron Homes’ authority to impose
service charges and with a standing order that all parties must maintain the
status quo, they question why the company is still making fresh demands.
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