More than 5.3 million electricity consumers across Nigeria remain trapped in a deepening dispute between the federal government and distribution companies over who should foot the bill for installing supposedly ‘free’ meters, threatening to derail the country’s ambitious plans to eliminate estimated billing.
“Every month, they send me a bill for N15,000, sometimes N20,000,” said Chioma Okafor, a small business owner in Oshodi, who has waited three years for a meter. “I don’t even use that much power. When I complain, they tell me to get a meter. When I ask for a meter, they tell me to wait. It’s frustrating.”
The standoff erupted Thursday after Adebayo Adelabu, minister of Power, issued a stern warning during an inspection of newly imported smart meters at APM Terminals in Lagos, threatening prosecution for any DisCo official or installer who collects payment from customers. The meters, procured under the World Bank-funded Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, must be installed at no cost to consumers, Adelabu emphasised.
“It is unprecedented that these meters are to be installed and distributed to consumers free of charge, free of charge! Nobody should collect money from any consumer,” Adelabu declared. “It is an illegality. It is an offence for the officials of distribution companies across Nigeria to request a dime before installation.”
Yet distribution company operators immediately pushed back, revealing that while consumers won’t pay upfront, the DisCos themselves will be required to reimburse the government over 10 years, effectively transferring the financial burden from customers to already cash-strapped utilities.
“The government is saying the meters are free, but someone has to pay,” said a senior DisCo executive who requested anonymity. “If we’re expected to recover these costs over 10 years while also covering installation expenses, how is this sustainable? We’re already operating at a loss.”
Read also: N1.5trn ghost haunts new N28bn metering bailout
The crisis in numbers
The controversy comes as Nigeria’s electricity metering crisis reaches critical proportions. According to data current as of September 30, 2025, only 6.66 million of the country’s 12.03 million active registered customers had meters, reflecting a metering rate of just 55.37 percent. This means nearly half of all electricity consumers are billed through estimates, a practice that has fuelled decades of customer complaints and revenue losses.
Abubakar Musa, a yam seller at Oyingbo market, Lagos, knows this reality all too well.
“They estimate my bill at N50,000 every month. My neighbour who has a meter pays N20,000 for the same house size,” he said. “When I ask them why, they say it is policy. What kind of policy punishes people for not having what they won’t give us?”
The metering gap varies dramatically across the country’s 12 distribution zones. While Eko and Ikeja DisCos have achieved metering rates above 84 percent, serving Nigeria’s commercial capital, states like Yola (28.65 percent), Jos (29.69 percent), and Kaduna (33.63 percent) lag far behind. Enugu, with 1.45 million customers, has metered less than half at 47.09 percent, leaving 770,517 consumers subject to estimated billing.
Industry analysts warn that the dispute could paralyse the metering programme at a critical juncture. Nigeria has struggled for years to close its metering gap, with previous initiatives foundering due to funding constraints, logistics challenges, and allegations of corruption in meter procurement.
“This is a classic case of policy implementation without adequate consultation,” said Fatima Ibrahim, an energy sector consultant in Abuja. “The government wants to score political points by declaring meters free but hasn’t worked out the financial architecture with the DisCos, who will ultimately bear the cost. It’s the consumers who suffer when these things aren’t thought through properly.”
The World Bank programme represents one of the most significant investments in Nigeria’s distribution infrastructure in recent years, but the payment structure remains contentious. While Adelabu insisted that “billings and collections will improve for the sector” once meters are installed, DisCo operators question whether improved revenue collection will offset their 10-year repayment obligations plus installation costs.
“Look, we want to install these meters,” explained another DisCo manager, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But we have technical losses of 40 percent to 50 percent in some areas. People steal power; infrastructure is collapsing, and now we’re supposed to take on more debt? The numbers don’t add up.”
The minister’s threat of prosecution has further escalated tensions. Distribution companies have long complained that they operate in a challenging environment characterised by massive technical losses, electricity theft, poor infrastructure, and customers who often refuse to pay bills. Adding installation costs to their burden, they argue, could push already fragile utilities toward financial collapse.
The standoff also raises questions about accountability. Adelabu warned that both DisCo officials and ‘indirect installers’ who demand payment would face legal consequences, but did not specify what agency would monitor compliance or how enforcement would work across Nigeria’s vast geography.
Read also: Eko DisCo urges participation in free metering, warns against third-party agents
Trapped in the middle
For millions of consumers, the dispute means continued reliance on estimated billing, a system that has bred mutual distrust between utilities and customers.
Unmetered customers often receive inflated bills based on assumptions rather than actual consumption, while DisCos struggle to collect revenue without concrete data on electricity usage.
“I’ve given up trying to understand my electricity bill,” said Grace Adeyemi, a teacher in Lagos, who has been waiting for a meter for 18 months. “Sometimes it’s N8,000, sometimes it’s N18,000. There’s no logic to it. I just pray they bring this meter they keep promising, so at least I’ll know what I’m actually using.”
The situation is particularly acute in northern states. Yola DisCo, serving Adamawa and Taraba states, has left 363,014 of its 508,772 customers without meters. Kano DisCo has metered only 273,900 of 794,668 customers, leaving more than half a million in the dark about their actual consumption.
In Kaduna, Ibrahim Yusuf, a civil servant, said the lack of meters is killing small enterprises. “We can’t plan. We can’t budget. Every month is a surprise,” he explained.
“Some months they bill us N45,000, some months, N65,000. How do you run a business like this? My generator fuel costs are already killing me, and then I still have to pay these crazy estimated bills.”
An impasse with no clear resolution
Industry observers say the impasse could be resolved through clearer communication about the financing structure and perhaps government subsidies for installation costs.
“Somebody needs to sit down and do the math,” said Aisha Mohammed, an energy analyst at the Lagos-based Centre for Development Studies.
“If the DisCos go bankrupt trying to install these meters, who wins? Certainly not the consumers. We need a sustainable financing model, not political theatrics.”
Meanwhile, 5.3 million Nigerian households and businesses remain caught in the middle, uncertain when they’ll receive the meters that could finally end years of billing disputes and bring transparency to their electricity consumption.
The power ministry did not respond to requests for additional comment on how the financing dispute would be resolved.
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