Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies have been criticized for their limited contribution to addressing the country’s metering gap. According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Third Quarter 2025 report, the companies, known as DisCos, funded only 90,172 meters nationwide between 2019 and the third quarter of 2025. This represents a significant shortfall in their responsibility to meter all eligible customers.
The report highlights that the DisCos’ direct financing of meters accounted for only a marginal share of total installations over the six-year period. Despite regulatory directives to accelerate customer metering, the pace of installations slowed sharply in 2025, with only 1,178 meters funded in the first quarter, 234 in the second quarter, and 131 in the third quarter.
The data shows that two companies, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company and Jos Electricity Distribution Plc, drove the majority of meter installations under the DisCo-financed framework. Ibadan installed a cumulative total of 37,156 meters, while Jos recorded the highest total installations with 52,174 meters deployed between 2019 and 2025.
In contrast, other DisCos posted negligible figures, with some companies recording zero meter installations under the DisCo-financed model as of the end of the third quarter of 2025. The report notes that most meter deployments during the period were executed through alternative schemes, such as the Meter Asset Provider framework, the Vendor-Financed framework, and the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme supported by the World Bank.
As of September 2025, the commission reported that 6.66 million out of 12.03 million active registered electricity customers had been metered nationwide, translating to a metering rate of 55.37 per cent. The regulator emphasized that inadequate metering continues to fuel disputes over estimated billing and deepen commercial losses in the power sector. Improved customer enumeration and accelerated meter deployment are critical to boosting revenue collection and reducing aggregate technical, commercial, and collection losses across the electricity market.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has introduced initiatives to address the metering gap, including the Meter Acquisition Fund and the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme. The latter, backed by a $500m World Bank loan, targets the deployment of 3.2 million smart meters nationwide. With the program’s meter installations standing at 7,902 by the end of the third quarter, the commission warns that continued inadequate metering will hinder the power sector’s progress, underscoring the need for sustained efforts to bridge the metering gap and enhance the overall efficiency of Nigeria’s electricity distribution system.
