The Federal Government has disclosed that 668,000 electricity meters have been deployed and installed at customers’ premises across Nigeria under its ongoing efforts to close the country’s metering gap and end arbitrary estimated billing.
According to The Punch, the disclosure was made by the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ayodeji Ariyo Gbeleyi, during the second 2026 meeting of the National Council on Privatisation, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Gbeleyi said the installed meters represented about 60 per cent of the 1,033,000 meters delivered under Phase 1 of the $500m World Bank-financed Distribution Sector Recovery 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,” he said.
The metering programme, according to the government, is intended to provide accurate electricity billing while reducing dependence on estimated bills for registered electricity customers nationwide.
The initiative is being implemented alongside other government interventions, including the Presidential Metering Initiative.
The BPE boss also revealed 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 own electricity regulatory commission, saying the state did so in July.
However, Gbeleyi noted that some areas of the Electricity Act required further adjustments to ensure effective implementation.
“Some fine-tuning is required here and there in the implementation of that Act,” Gbeleyi said.
He disclosed that the council had directed major stakeholders, including the Attorney-General of the Federation, Minister of Power, Special Adviser to the President on Power, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and BPE, to work on proposed amendments to the legislation.
“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,” he said.
Also speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, said the government was committed to improving the value Nigerians derive from electricity and other critical sectors of the economy.
“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, the Minister of Power, the representative of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, as well as private members of the council.
