The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has prohibited all electricity distribution companies and installers in the country from collecting any form of payment for the installation of electricity meters.
This was disclosed on Thursday by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, during the inspection of newly imported meters at APM Terminals, Apapa, Lagos State.
The minister stated that the meters were acquired under the World Bank–funded Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP) and must be installed for customers free of charge.
He said, “I want to mention that it is unprecedented that these meters are to be installed and distributed to consumers free of charge—free of charge! Nobody should collect money from any consumer. It is an illegality. It is an offense for the officials of distribution companies across Nigeria to request a dime before installation; even the indirect installers cannot ask consumers for a dime.
“It has to be installed free of charge so that billings and collections will improve for the sector.
“The main objective of coming here today is to carry out a physical on-site inspection of shipments of smart meters that the Federal Government has imported under the World Bank-funded Distribution Sector Recovery Programme. This programme is supporting the Federal Government to import a total of about 3.4 million meters in two batches; the first batch is 1.43 million meters, out of which we have received close to about a million meters. Currently, almost 150,000 meters have already been installed across all distribution companies in the country.
“And what we have today is close to 500,000 meters that we just received. They are all smart meters, and I believe that the journey of completely eliminating the meter gap in the Nigerian power sector has just begun.
“I’m quite excited and elated with what’s happening because it’s unprecedented. This is the first time in the history of this country that a government will be importing and locally buying this number of meters to ensure that the power sector is completely transformed. This is like walking the talk. Our target reform in the sector is not just verbal. Nigerians can see that this is real; it’s not just a promise of the tongue.
“We said it is free. We are not saying this behind closed doors. We are telling Nigerians that the distribution and installation of these meters in every location is free of charge, and it is declared an offense—an illegality—for any DisCo official or installer to request money from the beneficiaries of these meters.
“We will track and monitor this installation. We also await tip-offs. We have the regulatory commission (NERC), which has offices in some of these locations, and the state regulatory authorities also have offices in each state.”