N1.5trn ghost haunts new N28bn metering bailout

When the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) unveiled a N28 billion bailout for electricity distribution companies last month, the announcement landed with both optimism and fatigue.

The funds are earmarked to procure and install meters for customers in tariff Bands A and B, at no cost to consumers.

The move is part of the broader Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), which aims to close a metering gap affecting an estimated seven million customers.

For government officials, it was a fresh attempt to close the country’s yawning metering gap, one that leaves millions of households billed on estimated consumption. For the public, it sounded like déjà vu.

BusinessDay’s finding showed the fresh injection is being watched warily by critics and power-sector observers who recall that nearly N1.5 trillion has already been pumped into metering programmes over the past years with little meaningful progress.

Though the government and multilateral partners have claimed to have spent that sum across various metering interventions, more than half of electricity customers, still remain unmetered, relying on estimated bills.

Data sourced from NERC showed as of 30 June 2025, only 6,422,933 out of the 11,821,194 active registered electricity customers (54.3 percent) across the twelve (12) DisCos were metered.

This implies about 5.3 million electricity customers are still unmetered.

The N28 billion Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) tranche, announced in October 15, aims to finance the procurement and free distribution of meters to customers in the most critical supply categories, those on Bands A and B, who are supposed to enjoy the most reliable power supply.

Under the arrangement, the funds, pooled from market revenues, are being distributed among the 12 Distribution Companies (DisCos) according to their customer base and technical needs.

Ikeja Electric, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company are among the biggest beneficiaries, expected to receive billions of naira each to procure and install new meters before the end of the year.

According to NERC, this latest bailout represents “a decisive measure to eliminate estimated billing and deepen efficiency in electricity distribution.” But across the industry, skepticism runs deep.

“The challenge isn’t about money anymore, it’s about delivery and honesty,” said one senior executive at a Lagos-based meter manufacturing firm, who requested anonymity for fear of regulatory backlash. “We’ve seen this movie before: money released, meters promised, and very little to show for it.”

That skepticism is well-earned.

Since 2020, the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other agencies, has launched multiple programmes, each touted as the one that would finally end estimated billing. Yet, each has foundered on a combination of corruption, weak oversight, and bureaucratic inertia.

The National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) was the first of these grand interventions. Introduced in 2020, it came with a ₦200 billion seed fund from the CBN and an ambitious plan to deliver one million meters in its pilot phase, at a cost of N59.28 billion. The meters were to be supplied by local manufacturers registered as Meter Asset Providers (MAPs).

By 2022, the project had run into scandal. The CBN approached a High Court in Lokoja, seeking to freeze 157 bank accounts belonging to 10 companies that allegedly diverted NMMP funds. The apex bank accused the beneficiaries of channeling money into unrelated ventures.

Industry insiders told BusinessDay that the programme’s collapse owed much to collusion between suppliers and officials in the supervising agencies. “Most of the meters were not supplied,” one source said, “because of the connivance between the companies and government officials in the last administration. The money was simply diverted.”

Of the one million meters planned, fewer than 940,000 were delivered, and even fewer installed. Billions of naira remain unaccounted for.

Read also: DisCos installed meters hit 225,631 in Q2 2025

The Promise of “Free Meters”

Following the NMMP debacle, NERC introduced the Meter Acquisition Fund, which earmarked ₦21 billion to distribute free meters to select customers. But progress under the first phase has been anemic.

A NERC document seen by Businessday showed as of June 2025, DisCos have metered about 107,000 Band A customers through the MAF scheme.

Analyst said DisCos, struggling under debt and poor cash flow, have little incentive to prioritise metering, since unmetered customers can be billed arbitrarily.

For many consumers, that system remains a source of frustration and mistrust.

The Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), launched later, was billed as the game-changer. The Federal and State Governments jointly allocated ₦700 billion with the goal to deploy over 10 million meters nationwide, eliminate arbitrary billing, restore public trust in the power sector, and empower consumers through accurate, transparent, and fair electricity pricing.

By mid-2025, Olu Verheijen, special adviser to the President on Energy said, in Abuja as part of events to commemorate the second anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration said the federal government plans to deploy seven million smart electricity meters nationwide through the PMI.

But two major DisCos told BusinessDay that none of those meters had reached their warehouses.

“The press statements are always ahead of reality,” one senior DisCo official said. “We read that the meters were on the way, but we never received a single one.”

Read also: Reps query NERC over ₦59bn metering funds

Paying Twice, Waiting Forever

Even customers who have tried to take metering into their own hands have met obstacles. Under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme introduced in 2018, consumers were allowed to pay for meters directly, with the understanding that they would be refunded through energy-use credits over time.

“Out of the 225,631 end-use customers metered in first half of 2025 , 147,823 (65.52%) of customers were metered under the MAP framework,” NERC said in its latest report.

But electricity customers surveyed by BusinessDay said the result is widespread resentment. “It feels like we’re being punished for doing the right thing,” said Chidinma Eze, a small-business owner in Isolo who paid ₦88,000 for a meter in 2022 and has yet to receive a refund. “Every new initiative just becomes another excuse to collect money.”

The World Bank’s Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, meant to provide structure and international oversight, has fared little better. The Bank approved a $500 million loan to Nigeria, with $155 million (about ₦100 billion) allocated for 3.2 million meters. But that effort has stalled amid disputes between local manufacturers and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which manages the fund.

Local firms accuse TCN of awarding contracts primarily to foreign suppliers, particularly two Chinese companies that together secured deals worth about ₦100 million for 1.25 million meters. The controversy has left hundreds of thousands of planned installations in limbo.

The cumulative spending across these programmes, CBN loans, federal budget allocations, donor funds, and state contributions, now exceeds ₦1.5 trillion, according to estimates compiled from NERC, CBN, and Power Ministry records.

Yet, despite this massive outlay, Nigeria still has more than seven million customers without meters, according to the most recent regulator’s data.

Analysts say the implications extend beyond consumer billing. “Metering is the foundation of a viable power market,” said Ayodele Olawande, an independent energy economist based in Abuja. “Without accurate measurement, you can’t price electricity properly, you can’t attract investors, and you can’t enforce accountability.”

The persistence of estimated billing undermines both revenue collection and trust. It allows DisCos to over-bill customers during supply shortfalls while depriving the electricity market of real consumption data essential for planning and investment.

“This is not a problem of regulations—it’s a problem of political will,” said an industry consultant who has worked on two of the previous programmes. “Every new scheme uses old templates, old players, and the same opaque accounting.”

Many manufacturers, particularly indigenous firms, argue that the government’s approach favors middlemen rather than producers. Some firms that participated in earlier rounds of metering claim they are still owed payments running into billions of naira.