Following the recent decision of the Federal Government to distribute over six million electricity meters free to Nigerians, President Muhammad Buhari has assured that his administration will end the estimated billing regime in electricity supply in the country.
The President gave the assurance Wednesday evening in a thread of tweets on his verified Twitter handle, @MBuhari, saying the first phase of one million free metres distribution in some parts of the country is already underway. He said that 6.5 million metres, which would be locally sourced in the Presidential Mass Metering Initiative, would meet the national deficit and would impact an estimated 30 million homes across the country. According to him, the administration decided to locally manufacture the metres to create jobs.
He said: “Under the first phase of the Presidential Mass Metering Initiative, we are making funding immediately available for DisCos to roll out 1,000,000 Meters in the first phase, at no cost to consumers. Deployment has already started in parts of Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, and Abuja. Future phases of this Metering Initiative will help us fully meet the 6.5 million deficit of meters nationwide and will impact an estimated 30 million consumers. All meters under this program will be sourced from local manufacturers and in-country stock, to create jobs. We are committed to ending estimated billing in all forms in Nigeria, and ensuring that Nigerians pay only for the electricity they consume.”