A statement on Wednesday issued by Ondaje Ijagwu, director, Corporate Affairs, FCCPC, said the directive remains in full force, and any attempt by these DisCos to proceed in contravention of it will attract severe consequences. ­

“Contrary to recent ru­mours, the approval of new meter prices by the Nigeri­an Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has no connection with the pro­posed replacement of Uni­star meters by IKEDC and EKEDC.

“The planned replace­ment has been invalidated by both the FCCPC and NERC, and there is no in­dication that the affected DisCos have breached our directives.

“It is essential to clarify that Ikeja and Eko DisCos cannot proceed with the withdrawal or replacement of the Unistar meters un­less they fully comply with NERC’s order on structured replacement of faulty and obsolete end-user custom­er metres in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (Order No. NERC/246/2021).

“The order mandates that metre replacements must be prompt, without disrupting service and at no cost to the consumer; and ensuring that consumers are not sub­jected to estimated billing due to delayed installations.

“The FCCPC’s position remains clear: non-compli­ance with these directives by Ikeja and Eko DisCos will not be tolerated.

“Any breach of this direc­tive will attract stiff penal­ties in line with the provi­sions of existing consumer protection laws.”

The FCCPC, therefore, ad­vised consumers to contact the FCCPC on the commis­sion’s line, 08119877785, ded­icated to electricity issues, should they encounter any attempts by Ikeja or Eko Dis­Cos to disobey this directive.

The FCCPC said it re­mains unwavering in its com­mitment to safeguarding the rights of Nigerian consum­ers against unfair practices by service providers.

Pursuant to Sections 17(j), (l) (s), 116 (2), 124, 125, 138 and 155 of the Federal Competition and Consum­er Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018.

According to the Minister, this was under the Presidential Meter Initiative programme.

He disclosed this while addressing broadcasters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, according to Punch report.

According to Adelabu, President Bola Tinubu’s administration has been making efforts to close the meter gap in Nigeria, adopting various initiatives.

He mentioned that many customers are not paying their bills because they believe they are being cheated by the power distribution companies through estimated billing, stressing that metering would ensure transparency.

“Out of over the 12 million electricity customers we have in Nigeria, only a little over five million is metered. We have over seven million meter gap today, and these are self-inflicted problems,” Adelabu explained.

Speaking about the efforts of the government to close the meter gap, he explained, “Mr President has set up what we call the Presidential Meter Initiative and set up a Presidential Meeting Council to address this issue. He made me the chairman of this council. The SA on Energy to Mr President is the secretary of the council. The mandate we have was to procure and install a minimum of two million meters on a yearly basis over the next five years.

“In the PMI, we have made good progress in sourcing the fund for this, and it is going to be by a combination of the federal and state governments. Today, we have received and we have seen about N100bn that will go into the procurement of meters.”

He added that the World Bank decided to support Nigeria with the procurement of almost two million meters in the next two years through the distribution sector recovery programme.

He disclosed that $200m out of the $500m DISREP fund would be used for meter procurement, saying this has reached an advanced stage.

“In fact, for the World Bank, we have issued contract awards. It’s just for them to start bringing the meters from overseas and locally. Because of the capacity requirements, we cannot just depend on local patronage alone. We must bring it from other clients where it’s even cheaper. Even our assemblers are bringing the parts, which are the SKDs or the CKDs, (completely knocked down parts or semi-knocked down parts). Then we also encourage our local manufacturers.

“So it’s a combination of international competitive bidding and national competitive bidding. Before the end of the year, they will start bringing the meters in,” he posited.

He added that the sale of meters has been liberalised by allowing the DisCos to allow their customers to buy directly from the vendors.

He also acknowledged that the cost of meters has risen because of the exchange rates.

“The meter that was going for N80,000 before probably is about N120,000 now. That’s the reality. What now matters most is the funding of this,” he noted.

Nigerian energy consumers have been trying for decades to get meters, but only 8.1 million of the country’s 12.8 million subscribers have received the gadget.

According to Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), only about 4.66 million end-users, representing 36 percent of the entire pool had been fully metered at the end of November 2021.

Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) supported the federal government’s commencement of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) in September 2020, which, despite its slow progress, has helped the metering activities speed up.

The metering plan, like others, aims to boost Nigeria’s metering rate, do away with arbitrary estimated billing, and enhance the local meter value chain by expanding local meter manufacture, assembly, and deployment capabilities.

“In trading, there are different markets that can be explored, and we are exploring different ways to make Nigeria our top trade partner. It is important to note that, sometimes, it is about the quality one has to offer,
Ben Llewellyn-Jones, British Deputy High Commissioner (DHC) Nigeria said last week.

“The UK is known to have one of the most sophisticated meterings in the world, which would make a quality difference in Nigeria when it comes to the electricity sector as consumers would get the best value for their money spent.

“In terms of services, there are different British schools in the country as well as various partnerships with universities across the country. This goes to show that we are also about substance.

“We are committed to ensuring that we explore every opportunity available to strengthen the bilateral relationship between both countries,” he said.

Trade Partnership with the UK

Nigeria and the United Kingdom (UK) are strong allies, constantly exploring strategic ways to deepen trade policy cooperation in the interest of both countries.

According to Ben, trade volume between the UK and Nigeria stood at £5.5 billion, while UK imports from Nigeria, amounted to £2.2 billion.

Recall that the UK government in August 2022 introduced the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) that would encourage and improve the exportation of goods from Nigeria.

Nigeria will benefit from enhanced preferences under the DCTS, given that 99 percent of current goods exports amounting to £1.6 billion per year would be eligible for duty-free, quota-free access to the UK.

“With the introduction of the DCTS, which would take off in April, 99 percent of Nigeria’s exports to the UK would be duty-free, as we see this as a real opportunity to improve trading between both countries.”

The UK market is a very large one. So, we have reached out to small and large businesses in different parts of the country. This is intended to help exporters and other people in the trading business to make the United Kingdom an export destination.

“Also, it is important to note that our government has been carrying out a lot of work in the country through initiatives such as British International Investment, which looks into the possibilities of investment and provides them.

“We work closely with the Nigerian authorities to overcome some challenges that come with investing in the country and we are also working on several ways to further strengthen the relationship between both countries,” he said.