Metering gap: Despite N1.5tr intervention, free supply, more than seven million Nigerians still on estimated billing

THE GUARDIAN

• Meter prices near N200,000 in liberalised market, manufacturers project reduction 
• N700b drawn from FAAC last year to fund Presidential Metering Initiative
• 4,000 installers to be trained across six geopolitical zones

The series of interventions by the Federal Government and multilateral loans, which hovers around N1.5 trillion, fall short of providing meters to Nigerians, a development that is worsening arbitrariness in the electricity billing system.

Instead of dropping after the FG allocated a total of N700 billion to the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) and N59.3 billion under the National Mass Metering Programme, unmetered customers remained at over seven million.
  
Efforts to reduce the gap have increased the sovereign debt by $500 million, a facility obtained from the World Bank loan, and another N21 billion arranged under Meter Asset Financing (MAF).
  
These come as the cost of a prepaid meter has soared above N200,000 as customers have to pay for the units owing to the inability of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to compel the distribution companies (DisCos) to perform their statutory responsibilities of metering customers. 

Amidst the failure also comes a series of court cases and allegations labelled against most of the metering companies and the DisCos under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) for misusing and embezzling funds meant for free metering.

The Federal High Court in Abuja will on February 4 hear a case by Ziklagsis Network Ltd hoping to stop the Federal Government, Ministry of Power and four others, from recovering N39.1 billion meant for a mass metering contract.

The latest report by NERC has shown that the total number of registered customers stands at 13.3 million with only 6.1 million metered. This leaves the total number of unmetered customers at 7.1 million.

Under the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) provided N10.3 trillion in intervention across sectors of the Nigerian economy. The power sector received N2.3 trillion out of which N59.2 billion went into NMMP. 

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