The federal government has said about 60 per cent of active electricity customers in Nigeria are now metered, as it intensifies efforts to close the country’s electricity metering gap and curb arbitrary estimated billing.
The disclosure was made at the second 2026 meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to a statement issued on Thursday by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice-President, the metering drive is being implemented through several initiatives, including Phase 1 of the $500 million World Bank-financed Distribution Sector Recovery Programme and the Presidential Metering Initiative.
Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Ayodeji Ariyo Gbeleyi, told the council that 668,000 meters had been installed on customers’ premises out of 1,033,000 meters delivered under the programme.
“On various issues, we provided updates on meter deployment under Phase 1 of the World Bank-financed Distribution Sector Recovery Programme. We have implemented 60 percent of the meters that have been delivered in the country out of 1,033,000. So far, we have deployed and installed 668,000 meters on customers’ premises,” Gbeleyi said.
The government said the metering programme was designed to reduce the metering deficit and ensure that registered electricity customers are no longer subjected to arbitrary estimated bills.
The BPE chief also disclosed that about 17 states had established State Electricity Regulatory Commissions since April 2024, following the decentralisation framework introduced by the Electricity Act.
He identified Akwa Ibom as one of the latest states to establish its electricity regulatory commission, saying the state completed the process in July.
However, Gbeleyi said some aspects of the implementation of the Electricity Act required further adjustment.
“Some fine-tuning is required here and there in the implementation of that Act,” he said.
The council consequently directed major stakeholders to engage on proposed amendments aimed at streamlining the implementation of the legislation and harmonising the Federal Government’s position.
The stakeholders include the Attorney-General of the Federation, Minister of Power, Special Adviser to the President on Power, Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Oil and Gas, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), BPE and other relevant parties.
“Council has directed that stakeholders, led by the Attorney General of the Federation, the Honourable Minister of Power, the Special Adviser on Power, the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Oil and Gas, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the BPE and all other critical stakeholders, should engage constructively so as to streamline and harmonise the Federal Government’s position in terms of the required amendments to fine-tune the Electricity Act,” Gbeleyi said.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, said the government was pursuing a collaborative approach to improve the value Nigerians derive from electricity and other critical sectors.
“We are working concertedly and in a very collaborative manner to ensure that we give value, either in electricity or in telecoms—whichever area—to make sure that Nigerians benefit from this government,” Tegbe said.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Minister of Power, representative of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, and private members of the council.
