In an act to meet up with the metering programme of the Federal Government, Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power declared that customers are allowed to buy their meter from any manufacturer.

Adelabu, made this known in a recent visit to Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Limited, Ibafo, Ogun State, revealed the government’s plans to close the electricity metre gap in the next five years and stop the controversies around estimated billing.

Adelabu stressed that the Federal Government, planned to install nothing less than two million prepaid metres yearly for the next five years.

From the news gathered, about eight million of the country’s, thirteen milllion electricity consumers had not be metered, giving room for over-billing of unmetered customers by the electricity distribution companies.

“We have a presidential metering initiative that has the plan of installing minimum of two million to 2.5 million meters on a yearly basis, for the next five years, to close the huge metre gap in the power sector.

“Even if we cannot close the metre gap 100 per cent, because of new connections, we must reduce it significantly,” he stated.

Adelabu, who was taken round the factory by the Chairman of MEMMCOL, Kola Balogun, remarked that the government would consider multiple options to bridge the meters gap.

Balogun said to the minister that individual customers should be allowed to buy their prepaid meters from any manufacturers of their choice instead of waiting endlessly to have the products supplied by distribution companies only.

The chairman of MEMMCOL said, when a customer buys the meter, it will be taken to the DisCo for configuration.

From the news gathered Adelabu noted that, “It is one of the options we have on the table, and we are going to enter into discussion with the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission as well as the DisCos to see what we can do to fast track or accelerate our metre acquisition plans.

“The metering gap is too huge at eight million, so all hands must be on deck, and there must be multiple options for us to be able to ramp up on the number of meters we want to install to reduce the gap. So, it is a possibility.

“After discussing with them (NERC and DisCos), we can actually agree that individual power consumers can buy electricity metres on their own from approved or accredited manufacturers.”

Presently, customers are allowed to buy a prepaid electricity meter through the power distribution companies only.

Balogun held that this would be eliminated the moment individuals are allowed to buy the metre themselves and get it configured by the power distributors.