The Nigerian government led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, both at the federal and state levels, plans to allocate N100 billion to import electricity meters to address the ongoing metering gap in the country.
This was revealed by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, during a recent briefing in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He noted that the initiative is part of the Presidential Meter Initiative program.
Minister Adelabu highlighted that Bola Tinubu’s administration has been actively working to close the metering gap in Nigeria through various initiatives.
“In the PMI, we have made good progress in sourcing the fund for this, and it is going to be by a combination of the federal and state governments.
“Today, we have received, and we have seen about N100bn that will go into the procurement of meters,” he said.
He mentioned that the World Bank has committed to assisting Nigeria by procuring nearly two million meters over the next two years through the Distribution Sector Recovery Program.
As a result, he highlighted that $200 million of the $500 million DISREP fund from the World Bank will be allocated for meter procurement, and this process is now at an advanced stage.
“In fact, for the World Bank, we have issued contract awards. It’s just for them to start bringing the meters from overseas and locally. Because of the capacity requirements, we can not just depend on local patronage alone. We must bring it from other clients where it’s even cheaper”, he said.
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He also explained the reasons behind the increase in the cost of a single-phase electricity meter, which rose from around N80,000 to over N120,000.
The DAILY POST notes that last year, the Association of Meter Manufacturers and Assemblers of Nigeria (AMMON) opposed the Nigerian government’s decision to secure a $155 million World Bank loan for the importation of electricity meters into the country.
In April, Adelabu faced criticism for awarding a N40 billion electricity meter importation contract to the foreign company De Haryor Global.
A recent report from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission revealed that out of Nigeria’s 12 million electricity customers, just over five million have been provided with meters.
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