As electricity consumers continue to grapple with overbilling from Distribution Companies (DisCos) due to inadequate metering, those who could afford it paid over N64.5 billion for meters in 2024, Daily Trust reports.

According to the 2024 Annual Report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), consumers paid for 508,103 meters under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme out of the 572,055 deployed during the year.

The price of meters varied depending on the DisCo, with the cheapest single-phase meter costing N127,000.

This occurred despite the DisCos collectively receiving N1.5trn from the N2.1trn they billed their customers in the same year.

This N64.5bn does not include the N10,000 typically charged for application forms or another N10,000 unofficially collected by staff as a “facilitation fee” to expedite meter deployment.

While the report did not state how many meters each disco disbursed during the year, a brief analysis it provided showed that the MAP framework accounted for 88.82 percent of the total installations during the year with Ikeja (131,263 meters), Ibadan (108,071 meters) and Abuja (79,069 meters) DisCos recording the highest number of meters installation. Kano (1,846) and Yola (831 meters) recorded the lowest meter installations.

By these figures, customers of Ikeja Electric paid at least N16.7bn for meters, Ibadan customers paid N13.7bn, and Abuja customers paid N10bn.

Although providing meters is the statutory responsibility of DisCos, the federal government through NERC has continued to shift the burden to consumers, citing the DisCos’ lack of capital.

Daily Trust reports that despite the introduction of different metering schemes, the MAP seems to have endured as the previous ones introduced like the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) and National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) have failed to accelerate metering of consumers due to corruption and other logistic issues.

Since inception in 2019, data from NERC showed that over two million meters were deployed through MAP.

For the NMMP, which is a federal government funded project to deploy one million meters, its phase zero deployment ended last year with 943,111 meters deployed while 410,796 meters were deployed under CAPMI before it was discontinued.

However, for MAP which requires DisCos to refund the meter cost through electricity tokens, only a few customers have reported receiving refunds. For customers who are yet to get a refund, this means they paid twice as meter costs are also factored into electricity tariffs.

As of March 31, 2025, NERC reported that 7,299,848 of the 13,767,884 registered electricity customers across 12 DisCos remained unmetered and were subject to estimated billing. This has persisted despite the federal government’s promise to roll out seven million meters this year.



For AbdulAzeez Ibrahim, moving to his new house in Pyakasa, a suburb in Abuja means he had to either engage in illegal connection for immediate electricity or visit the AEDC office in his community to get a meter.

While he chose the latter, he still had to make the illegal connection.

“When I went to the office, a staff said it would take more than three months before I would be able to get a meter but he can help me to make direct connections to get electricity before the meter comes.

“Of course, I can’t stay that long without electricity. So, I gave a little money to be connected directly. This is beside the money I paid for the meter, N10,000 for form and another N10,000 for facilitation form. The meter later arrived after three months but for over a year now, I am yet to get any refund.

Also, Abraham Adams said he also had the same experience when he needed three meters for his flats.

“I was told I had to pay N10,000 each as a facilitation fee but in the long run, we negotiated it to N5,000 due to the number of the meters. After we agreed, I was made to pay N500 to photocopy the form.”

On his part, Emmanuel Ochai said “I recall I was asked to pay a facilitation fee of N10,000 and N5,000 for the transport of the installer. These were not recorded at the office but a conversation between the officials.

He added that the implication is that “if you don’t pay, processing the meter may take longer.”

On whether he got a refund, he said “I only got a token credit refund for three months and nothing more.”

Efforts to reach the spokesperson of NERC, Dr Usman Arabi, on what the commission is doing to protect consumers did not yield any result as he did not respond to calls and text messages sent to his phone.

However, a source in the commission who did not want his name published as he is not authorised to speak with the media said there are complaints of payments made and meters not received at expected time.

He said the commission usually intervenes by compelling the DisCo to immediately install those meters which they often comply with.

On the collection of bribes to fast track the meters collection, he said unfortunately, it often happens informally while for the application form, he said the form known as Form 76 or so is for registration of new connections and there is no amount pegged for it.

On refund, he said “we have records of customers who were refunded and we called to confirm but they are few. However, the problem now is that with state electricity regulators, we do not have jurisdiction across 12 states so far, including Lagos where there are lots of complaints. So, when we get complaints from there, we ask them to contact the SERC.”

Failed promises on metering

The current administration has since the beginning of the year been postponing its plans to provide millions of meters for Nigerians.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had in December 2024 announced plans to purchase and distribute two million prepaid meters to Nigerians before the end of the first quarter of 2025.

He said the initiative was part of broader measures to address issues surrounding estimated billing in the country. Expressing its disapproval of the estimated billing practice by Distribution Companies (Discos), the government revealed that the distribution of the two million meters is part of a larger plan to provide ten million prepaid meters nationwide over the next five years.

Even when his plans did not materialise, he, again, said the government would begin receiving the first batch of 3,205,101 pre-paid meters from April 2025 as part of efforts to close Nigeria’s electricity metering gap.

A statement signed by his Special Adviser on Communication and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, said the first tranche of 75,000 meters under the International Competitive Bid 1 is expected in April, with a second batch of 200,000 meters to follow in May 2025. He explained that to fast-track deployment, the government is relying on two major initiatives: the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, and the recently launched N700 billion Presidential Metering Initiative.

Under the DISREP scheme, 3.2 million meters are to be delivered by 2026 through various procurement models—1,437,501 meters via ICB1, 217,600 via National Competitive Bidding, and 1.55 million through a second international bid.

The Presidential Metering Initiative, on the other hand, is aimed at supplying two million meters annually for the next five years. Backed by N700bn from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, the programme will be managed by a Special Purpose Vehicle to ensure large-scale procurement and distribution.

A tender for the first batch of two million meters under the PMI is expected to be issued in the third quarter of 2025.

Why MAP needs to be reviewed – Experts

Adetayo Adegbemle, Executive Director of PowerUp Nigeria – an electricity consumer rights and power sector policy advocacy organization, said the MAP scheme should be replaced with a more sustainable model. He proposed a “Meter Franchising” model, where feeders are given to investors with a built-in cost recovery mechanism.

“I call it Meter Franchising, where Feeders or DTs are giving out to investors to complete metering and a path to cost recovery is built into the tariff and at source, like every other investor in the sector.

“We are at that point where investments are needed in the sector but people are running away because even our policies do not guarantee money back for such investors.

“So, on what ground is the government intervening? We’ve had a Meter Asset Provider (MAP), a National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI), and the recent one called the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI).

“There is no policy document that speaks to what PMI is. What are their targets? All the initiatives they came out with have failed. So, I will continue to insist that government intervention is not the way to go with metering.”

On his part, Lanre Elatuyi, a power market expert, said it’s the primary responsibility of the DisCos to provide meters for all their customers but for now, they don’t have money or access to financing required to meter every customer.

“The option is just for individual customers to finance their metering by themselves. You know the economic situation of the country. It’s someone that has eaten very well, or probably the people that can afford meters that will buy. So, at this point, you cannot predict the rate of metering because it depends on if customers have the money to pay. If a customer doesn’t have money to put down for the metres, there’s nothing they can do. So, it depends on the availability of funds by consumers.”