FG, disCos fight may put 2.5m electricity meters at risk

   …as huge subsidy of N4trn, poor revenue returns deepen crisis

What seemed like a cold between the minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu, and the Distribution Companies in the power sector, recently blew into open clash when they public disagreed over the installation of electricity meters to consumers. Adelabu had directed the disCos to give Nigerians free meter to ensure proper monitoring of supply.

However, the disCos responded immediately, dismissing the Minister’s directive, insisting that meters cannot be free because there are costs, such as installation and accessories involved, which they could not be expected to bear.

The Minister in a recent statement also named the DisCos as the most critical bottleneck in Nigeria’s power sector, working against  gains in generation and transmission  in spite of  sweeping reforms.

Speaking at a two-day Senate Committee on Power retreat recently, Adelabu noted that  DisCos’ poor performance, aging infrastructure, and financial mismanagement have given rise to a situation where millions of Nigerians are  without reliable electricity, despite increased generation capacity and a stabilized national grid.

The Minister called on  the National Assembly to enact stricter laws criminalizing power infrastructure vandalism, describing it as economic sabotage. He revealed that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has installed 74 high-capacity transformers since 2024, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, yet vandalism and illegal connections persist.

Persistence Teething Problems

“Our towers are toppled, meters are bypassed, and people engage in power theft; these must be treated as criminal offences, not civil matters,” he said.

He also outlined  TCN’s financial struggles, saying that the agency operates solely on dwindling internally generated revenue (IGR), which is insufficient for salaries, let alone infrastructure upgrades. He called for TCN’s inclusion in federal appropriations to sustain transmission expansion.

Adelabu, particularly mentioned  DisCos as the sector’s biggest letdown,  referencing  their failure to invest in infrastructure, remit revenues, and curb electricity theft.

“DisCos have disappointed us. Whatever we achieve in generation and transmission means nothing if distribution fails,” he said.

He said, “We need to get tough with the DisCos, as they can easily frustrate all the gains we have made. They have disappointed us in performance expectations. Whatever we do in generation does not mean anything to consumers if it is frustrated at the distribution points.”

He said that by the 2013 restructuring of the sector, the DisCos were  meant to have technical partners, but many of them showed partnership with foreign companies for that purpose, which lasted for about three months.

“So, we need utility companies that can invest in the sector to improve infrastructure, improve service. A lot of them went to the banks to take loans to buy the assets, after taking over, instead of providing infrastructure, they are taking out the money to pay the loans,” Adelabu said.

He disclosed that in Q4 2024, Northern DisCos remitted only 30 percent (N124.4 billion) of their N408.86 billion invoice, with Abuja DisCo contributing 85 percent of payments.

Southern DisCos performed slightly better at 67 (N254.6 billion), but 70 percent of that came from Lagos alone, exposing severe regional disparities due to neglected networks outside economic hubs.

“These discrepancies are due largely to crumbling infrastructure outside economic hubs, where underinvestment has left networks dilapidated,” the minister lamented.

Metering gap, Subsidy Burden Worsen Situation

The Minister acknowledged that the metering gap remains a major revenue drain, with only 75,000 meters deployed in April under the N700 billion Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI). An additional 200,000 are expected in May, but the backlog persists.

Worse still, the sector faces a N4 trillion subsidy debt to generation companies, including ₦1.94 trillion for 2024 alone. Monthly subsidy shortfalls now exceed ₦200 billion, making current tariffs unsustainable.

Adelabu disclosed  plans to restructure underperforming DisCos, enforce stricter performance benchmarks, and attract private investment into distribution networks. He also revealed ongoing efforts to revive the 1,000MW Makurdi hydropower project, complete the abandoned 215MW Kaduna thermal plant, and concession the 10 MW Katsina wind farm.

“Without urgent investment in distribution, generation and transmission improvements will not translate to reliable power for Nigerians,” he warned.

Many commentators have pointed out that the country’s  protracted  electricity metering debacle is  gradually morphing into  a fresh institutional standoff, with the Federal Government pointing accusing fingers at  electricity distribution companies (DisCos)  for intentionally frustrating free meter installation that could see as many as 2.5 million meters lying idle in warehouses by the end of 2026.

James Ojo, an energy expert, backed the Minister’s claim, saying the Federal Government should sanction any DisCo frustrating the metering initiative.

“The National Assembly should enact laws that will come hard against sabotage. We have condoned the inefficiency of these disCos for too long,” he said.

“Recall that the meters, under the National Mass Metering Programme and the President Power Initiative, with strong backing  from the World Bank and Federation Account, were meant to cut down  the current seven million metering gap in the country.

“The bold initiative, if unencumbered , could  have stemmed the pervasive  use of estimated billing, a long standing practice that has ignited  deep seated consumer anger and frustration as well as erosion of  trust in the power sector.

Many consumers have continued to wonder that in spite of  the availability of meters and fully paid installers, deployment progress has been frustrating, allegedly deliberately slow .

Recently the  Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said that only about 150,000 meters have been fully installed out of an initial one million already procured under the Federal Government’s free metering scheme.

According to him, if the current slow process of installation continues,  the stock of unused meters could rise to  about 2.5 million as additional batches arrive.

Consumers have wondered why the government, which is adequately  represented on the board and owns about 40 per cent share continue to blame the DisCos squarely for the delays, and yet no punitive measure has been taken against them

According to the Minister, DisCos   have failed to provide accurate customer data and adequate support to installers, effectively stalling deployment.

FG, World Bank Initiative

The Minister averred that  operators’ inability to  bridge the metering gap forced  the Federal Government to  wade in  through the World Bank–funded Distribution Sector Recovery Programme.

It must be noted that under  the initiative,  the government accessed  grants to procure meters directly for consumers, building  the cost of installation into the procurement to ensure households pay nothing. Each meter is  said to have been configured specifically for the DisCo operating in the area, where it will be installed, making it technically impossible to transfer meters across franchise zones.

According to the government, suppliers, have already been fully paid for both the meters and their installation. Government insisted that charging consumers separately for installation would upend  uptake and work against the goal of universal metering. Yet, despite these safeguards, meters are reportedly piling up in DisCos’ warehouses.

The Minister’s team blamed   poor enumeration and inaccurate customer information as the major roadblocks, noting that  installers are often sent to wrong addresses or to premises that are not technically ready for metering.

In some cases, they said, only four out of every 10 identified sites are viable for immediate installation.

He noted that  a meeting was in the pipeline with key stakeholders including the World Bank, Bureau of Public Enterprise, and the distribution companies, Adelabu  stated that repeated meetings involving the Ministry of Power, the procurement team and the World Bank have sought to resolve the impasse, but the pace of installation remains far below expectations.

According to him, ending estimated billing is non-negotiable for the administration’s power sector reforms.

DisCos Fight Back

In the face of the Federal Government’s disclosure of the state of affairs in respect of metering,  a distribution company (DisCo) in Nigeria’s northern region has punctured the claims that electricity distributors are intentionally hedging and frustrating the national mass metering programme, noting  that poor contractor capacity and weak logistics are responsible for delays.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior official at the DisCo, said that while 1.4 million meters were contracted nationally,  actual deliveries to individual DisCos had come significantly short. According to the official, 109,251 meters were contracted for the utility, but fewer than half were delivered.

“Only about 49,000 meters were supplied to us, representing roughly 47 per cent delivery. Out of that figure, about 33,000 have already been installed,” the source said, adding that just 16,000 meters currently remain in storage.

The official disclosed that installation had improved in recent weeks, with an average of 800 meters installed daily, but warned that the DisCo would exhaust its existing stock within a month unless fresh deliveries were made.

“Our data is not perfect, but it is 80 to 90 per cent accurate. It is dynamic by nature. Customers can self-meter at any point, which is why inspections are mandatory,” the source explained.

“The idea that we are frustrating a programme meant to support our business does not make sense.”

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the matter at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said some DisCos had delayed meter installations under the Meter Acquisition Fund, preferring direct cash allocations to procure meters themselves.

Principal Facilitator at the FUPRE Energy Business School and Executive Director of the Emmanuel Egbigah Foundation, Prof. Wunmi Iledare, described the situation as a symptom of deeper structural and governance failures in the power sector.

According to Iledare, inefficiencies in electricity distribution are sustained by a pseudo-monopoly market structure in which regulatory enforcement has been weak. He questioned why the NERC has been reluctant to apply sanctions, noting that effective regulation requires a balance of incentives and penalties to ensure efficiency, equity and ethical conduct.

Iledare warned that under the current regulatory environment, it is unrealistic to expect DisCos to improve performance. He also noted that by tolerating inefficiency and poor service delivery, and the Federal Government is undermining the value of its own investments in the sector.