4.85m customers still unmetered
4.85 Million Customers Remain Unmetred in Nigeria
By Ediri Ejoh
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced that electricity distribution companies (DisCos) delivered approximately 308,106 meters to customers between May and June 2026. According to NERC’s latest Metering Status Factsheet, the total number of active electricity customers increased by 0.55% to 12.59 million in June, up from 12.52 million in May.
As of June 2026, the total number of metered customers stands at 7,743,839, which indicates that around 4.85 million customers are still not metered. NERC officials stated that this data shows ongoing progress in customer metering throughout the country as DisCos work to address the metering gap and decrease reliance on estimated billing.
Eko Electricity Distribution Company reported the highest metering success rate at 88.70%, followed by Ikeja Electric with a metering rate of 87.91%. Abuja Electricity Distribution Company achieved a rate of 81.38%.
The Federal Government has estimated that approximately 60% of active electricity customers in Nigeria have been metered. This effort is part of the ongoing Phase 1 rollout of the $500 million World Bank-financed Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP).
Under the Presidential Metering Initiative, coordinated by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), officials aim to bridge the metering gap and eliminate arbitrary estimated billing for registered customers across Nigeria.
In an update on the program, BPE Director-General Ayodeji Gbeleyi stated that 60% of the 1,033,000 meters delivered have been implemented, with 668,000 meters installed at customer locations. Power Minister Joseph Tegbe noted that collaborative efforts are being made to ensure that Nigerians receive value in electricity and telecommunications.
The push to meter customers is part of broader efforts to improve the efficiency and reliability of Nigeria’s electricity distribution sector.
