The Federal Government has disclosed that about 60 per cent of active electricity customers across Nigeria have been metered as part of efforts to eliminate arbitrary estimated billing.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Ayodeji Ariyo Gbeleyi, made this known on Wednesday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Gbeleyi said 668,000 meters had so far been deployed and installed at customers’ premises out of the 1,033,000 meters delivered under Phase 1 of the $500 million World Bank-financed Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP).
“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 1,033,000 meters delivered in the country. So far, we have deployed and installed 668,000 meters on customers’ premises,” he said.
He explained that the metering drive, alongside initiatives such as the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), aimed to close Nigeria’s electricity metering gap and ensure that registered customers were no longer subjected to arbitrary estimated billing.
The BPE boss also disclosed that about 17 states had established State Electricity Regulatory Commissions since the enactment of the Electricity Act in 2023, as part of the transition from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to state-level regulation.
According to him, Akwa Ibom State became the latest state to establish its own electricity regulatory commission in July 2026.
Gbeleyi, however, said some aspects of the implementation of the Electricity Act required further clarification and harmonisation.
He said the NCP had directed relevant stakeholders, led by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Power, the Special Adviser on Power, the Special Adviser to the President on Oil and Gas, NERC, BPE, and other critical agencies, to work together on proposed amendments to the Act.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring that Nigerians derive greater value 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 Industry, Trade and Investment, the Attorney-General’s representative, private members of the council and other senior government officials.
The update was contained in a statement obtained by The News Chronicle issued by Stanley Kingsley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, on August 27, 2026.
