Two years after the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed funds for the N700bn Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), the government has said it would begin distribution in 2027.
Daily Trust reports that the PMI was approved in November 2023 to help address Nigeria’s persistent electricity metering challenges and it is aimed at reducing the metering gap in the country.
It also complements the World Bank funded Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP) that will inject 3.2 million meters into the electricity sector.
Even though the PMI is supposed to distribute 3.8 million meters, a former minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had stated that distribution would begin with 1.1 million meters by December 2025 while two million meters annually will be distributed over a five-year period.
It also forms part of broader efforts to expand meter deployment, improve electricity-sector revenue collection and reduce reliance on estimated billing.
According to the presidency, the project is beyond distribution of meters and it incorporates training of over 5,000 Nigerians on meter installation; strengthening the capacity of local meter manufacturers in line with the Nigerian First Policy, among others.
Similarly, the project is implemented by a federation-owned entity, PMI-Smart Grid Development Limited (PMI-SGDL) with the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, serving as its board chairman.
The Special Adviser on Energy to the President Olu Verheijen, is the Executive Secretary while Obafemi Solebo serves as the Project Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Already, the training of 5,000 meter installers started in July and it is being done in batches with the third batch currently in training.
The training is being organised by the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) while the certification and compliance standards are being overseen by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA).
During the training, AbdulRazaq was quoted to have stated that the Power Force will create jobs for young Nigerians while strengthening electricity access in every state.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said a stronger power sector begins with skilled people and Power Force invests in Nigerian talent to power the nation’s future
On her part, Verheijen said metering restores trust.
“When customers pay only for what they use, revenues improve, investment follows, and service gets better. Power Force helps us scale that progress faster.”
How N700bn was disbursed
According to documents from FAAC, PMI-SGDL disbursed the first tranche of funds on May 13 2024 with N120bn.
The second tranche of N100bn was disbursed on June 10 followed by another N100bn on July 16.
Another N100bn was disbursed on August 16, the same amount on September 16. Another on October 11 and the last was N80bn on November 10.
The ledger termed the receiver as State House: Smart Grid Development Limited e-collection account.
1,645,004 meters issued
Daily Trust observed that since the 2025 that the distribution was supposed to have commenced till the second quarter of 2026, Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) have issued 1,645,004 meters under five schemes.
The schemes include Meter Assets Providers, a scheme where customers who are tired of DisCos’ estimated billing pay for their meters themselves, but would be refunded through electricity tokens. The DisCos can pay back within 10 years.
The second is the Meters Acquisition Fund (MAF), this is a scheme introduced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) by deducting metering surcharge in the allowed tariffs for all DisCos and they provide meters for specifically Band A customers.
Next is the Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP), a $500 million World Bank loan, aimed at improving the financial and technical performance of DisCos, which is also given to Band A customers.
One of its major objectives is to close the metering gap in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) by deploying 3.2 million smart meters.
Also, there is the Vendor finance, where a third party, meter company, pays for a meter and would be refunded by the Disco. The last is Disco financed, which is paid for by the DisCo for its customers.
Analysis of the number of meters deployed during the period showed that 892,859 meters were distributed through the MAP, 404,993 through DISREP, 236,045 meters through MAF; 79,256 meters through vendor financed and 24,124 meters through DisCos financed.
A breakdown indicated that 36,787 meters were distributed under MAF IN Q1 2025, while 148,713 meters were given under MAP; 620 meters under Vendor and 1,074 under DisCos, totaling 187,194 meters during the quarter.
In Q2, 65,315 meters were given under MAF; 149,150 meters under MAP; 12,259 under vendor financed and 234 under DisCo financed, totaling 226,958 meters during the quarter.
In the third quarter, 7,902 meters were distributed under DISREP, 175 under MAF, 176,302 under MAP; 44,104 under vendor finance and 131 under DisCo financed, making 228,614 meters in total.
In Q4, 80,651 meters were distributed under DISREP; 22,748 under MAF; 176,180 under MAP; 20,984 under vendor financed and 4,453 under DisCo financed, totaling 305,016 meters during the quarter.
In Q1 2026, 118,681 meters were issued under DISREP; 97,992 under MAF; 118,681 under MAP; 1,009 under vendor financed and 10,589 under DisCo financed, with a total of 346,952 meters during the quarter.
For Q2 2026, 205,486 meters were given under the DISREP; 13,028 under MAF; 123,833 under MAP; 280 under vendor financed and 7,643 under DisCos financed, totaling 350,270 meters during the quarter.
Nigerians pay N133.92bn for meters in 18 months
Drawing from the 892,859 meters that were distributed during the period, it can be deduced that Nigerians paid N133,928,850,000 (billion) to get meters from DisCos.
The figure was arrived at using an average of N150,000 per meter. This is due to the varying price of meters with three-phase meters costing over N200,000 while single-phase costs up to N120,000.
While there is no data on which bands those who bought meters with their money belong to, the roll out of MAF and DISREP were to prioritise Band A customers, as such, it could be inferred that those who purchased meters under MAP belongs to the lower bands of B to E.
This showed that the government’s decision not to distribute the PMI meters comes at a great cost to poor Nigerians who continue to accuse DisCos of extortion.
Though, the latest report by NERC said meter deficit has reduced to 4,704,224 in August as 8.05 million are now metered, experts have said the figure might not be accurate as many Nigerians live in buildings that DisCos categorised as one customer, whereby more than 20 to 30 customers live in such buildings.
Why Band A customers get free meters
An official of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) who spoke with our reporter on condition of anonymity, said the meters are currently given to band A customers due to their importance to the financial stability for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
He added that the meters are also given to old customers who the company feels their consumption is not reflective of the supply given to them.
Confirming this, an electricity customer in Abuja, Ibrahim Idris, said he applied for a meter in January hoping to get the meter but he is yet to receive any.
“It has been 10 months now and I am yet to get the meter. No one has called DisCo to give me an update on my application or what alternative I should go for.”
“I am already on solar in my house, the reason why I am not desperate to go through the bribing channel to fast track it. While I know getting meters is time consuming, many people using meters I know told me they often give out bribes to receive the meters.”
“I could have gone the route of estimated billing but since I have solar, it serves the little it can power little appliances.”
Another customer, Mohammed Saheed, said when he wanted to get a meter, he was asked to pay N120,000.
But for Isaac Emmanuel, he was forced to pay N30,000 to installers before the meter he bought was installed in his home.
Speaking with Daily Trust, Kunle Kola Olubiyo, President of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, said the N700bn funding for electricity meters under the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), will go a long way to make Nigerians hold DisCos accountable against what he called the opaque estimated billings.
He said since the fund is coming from FAAC, it presented a fair distribution of meters to every state in the country and the most vulnerable Nigerians will be prioritised.
“The primary objective of the funding is to close the country’s severe electricity metering gap, eliminate unfair estimated billing and stabilize the power sector’s finances. The initiative initially aimed to deploy 1.1 million prepaid meters by December 2025. Following the initial phase, the plan expands to roll out 2 million meters annually over a five-year period.”
He explained that the fund is a domestic initiative that runs alongside the World Bank-supported Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), which provides an additional $500 million to procure roughly 3.2 million to 3.45 million meters.
“Have the Nigerian Government been able to meet up the December, 2025 deadline for the deployment of the meters? I don’t think so. Has it been extended? How many pre-paid Meters or Post-paid Meters have been deployed under the World Bank funded DISREP metering programme?
On his part, Energy expert, Lanre Elatuyi, said consumers will continue to face arbitrary billing, which might result in underbill or overbill.
He said once DisCos underbill, that means that they cannot collect for energy that they’ve distributed and when they overbill, consumers will not pay, because they will contest it and whatever they are given as their energy usage does not correspond to what they feel they used.
“So, as long as there are consumers that can’t pay up-front for the cost of metering, it is a challenge for the whole sector that is facing gross liquidity.”
He advised the federal government to engage the public on the status of PMI as the current situation seems opaque.
Distribution to start in 2027 with 750,000 meters
While a factsheet by NERC that stated that the distribution will start in 2027 with 750,000 meters to help close the metering gap, efforts to get reaction from the Ministry of Power and PMI on the cause of the delay was not successful.
This reporter reached out to Spokesperson of the ministry Clemet Ezeora, a Deputy Director, who said he is new in the role and does not have any information on it.
Also, media aide to the minister, Adeola Adelabu, told our reporter that the “PMI is essentially domiciled under the Office of SA Energy (now SA Oil and Gas). They are best to address concerns around PMI.”
Also, messages and phone calls to the Project Director, Obafemi Solebo, and three other staff members at the PMI were not responded.
SOURCE: Daily Trust