Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, has said the Federal and States Governments in Nigeria have raised N100 billion for the procurement of prepaid electricity meters.
The minister told journalists in Ibadan in southwestern Nigeria on Tuesday that the project which is under the Presidential Meter Initiative programme, is aimed closing the meter gap in Nigeria.
He explained that many electricity customers are not paying their bills because they believe that they are being cheated by the power distribution companies through estimated billing and that metering will ensure transparency.
“Out of over the 12 million electricity customers we have in Nigeria, only a little over five million are metered. We have over seven million meter gap today, and these are self-inflicted problems,” Adelabu said.
According to the minister, the President has set up the Presidential Meter Initiative and the Presidential Meeting Council to address the issue and the mandate of the council is to procure and install a minimum of 2 million meters on a yearly basis over the next five years.
GIK/APA