The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to raise N100bn to buy electricity prepaid meters for the country’s customers.
Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, announced the new development, which is part of the Presidential Meter Initiative programme. He made the revelation in Ibandan while speaking with a team of broadcasters in the Capital of the state, Oyo.
He explains that the president has significant concerns for different categories of persons in the country who have failed to access the prepaid meter, noting that the present administration is taking concrete measures to close the metering gaps in the usage of prepaid meters.
He complained that some customers in the country have absconded from paying bills because they have the mentality that the estimated was used to charge them above the energy being consumed. He further explained that the prepaid metre would eliminate estimated billing, encouraging transparency between the parties.
He disclosed that the country has over 12 million electricity customers, with customers above five million is metered, which presents an over seven million metering gap in the country that needs to be addressed.
Speaking on Gebremts efforts, he noted that President Bola Tinubu had opened a Presidential Meter Initiative by establishing a Presidential Meeting Council to address the issues regarding electricity merrin I n the country. According to the minister, the council is headed by the Minister of Power as chairman, while the SA on Energy to Mr President serves as the council secretary.
He noted that the council has been mandated to buy and install at least two million meters annually over the next five years.
Adebayo noted that the council has made significant progress with the take given them. He disclosed that they have started the first step of looking for the money to be used in buying the metres; he said about N100bn has been realised by the council, which will be used to procure the metres.
According to him, the World Bank, through its distribution sector recovery programme, has committed to supporting the country in procuring almost two million meters in the next two years. The minister also noted that $200m out of the $500m DISREP fund would be used to buy electric meters for the users in the country.
The minister noted that the contracts for the World Bank project have been awarded. What is left, he said, is the supply of the metre from different companies abroad and local producers. He noted that the council had decided to use local and foreign producers because of the high rate of dependencies that local producers may not be able to satisfy.
The minister also disclosed that the discos had been directed to allow electricity consumers to buy metres from vendors at a comfortable price. He noted that the current price of the metres has risen because of the exchange rate between the naira and the dollar. According to him, the rate of a metre in the past was about N80,000, but the price now has gone to about N120,000.
