ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Nigeria recorded an improvement in electricity metering between September and October 2025, as 187,765 power consumers were newly metered across the country, based on the latest metering factsheet issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The report shows that 80,943 customers were metered in September, while 106,822 received meters in October.
As a result of the continued rollout, the national metering rate increased from 55.37 per cent in September to 56.07 per cent in October.
Within the same timeframe, the number of active electricity customers rose from 12,030,315 to 12,071,018, representing an increase of 40,703 customers.
NERC data further reveal that metered customers grew from 6,661,564 at the end of September to 6,768,386 by October, leaving 5,302,632 customers still subjected to estimated billing.
The progress may be attributed in part to ongoing initiatives such as the Meter Acquisition Fund and other metering programmes, which began to show measurable results in the fourth quarter of the year.
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According to the NERC report, Ikeja Electric recorded the highest metering rate nationwide at 85.59 per cent, with 1,113,421 of its 1,300,940 active customers metered.
Eko Electric followed with 84.75 per cent, while Abuja Electric posted a metering rate of 75.82 per cent.
In contrast, four distribution companies Yola, Jos, Kaduna, and Kano remained below the 35 per cent benchmark.
Yola Disco ranked lowest at 28.92 per cent, followed by Jos at 29.74 per cent, Kaduna at 33.72 per cent, and Kano at 34.50 per cent.
Aba Power recorded the most significant improvement during the period, installing 18,906 meters and increasing its metering rate from 69.49 per cent in September to 78.20 per cent in October, representing a 3.3 percentage-point rise.
Abuja Disco installed 19,118 meters, Ikeja added 17,046, while Ibadan rolled out 15,739 meters within the same period. Other DisCos, including Benin, Enugu, Port Harcourt, and Eko, made up the remainder of the October installations.
Despite these gains, the NERC report indicates that over 5.3 million electricity customers nationwide are still without meters.
With the national metering rate now surpassing 56 per cent after years of stagnation between 50 and 55 per cent, industry observers believe that sustained momentum through the end of 2025 could bring Nigeria closer to the long-standing target of universal metering.
Recently, NERC criticised DisCos for insufficient progress on metering. Speaking at the 4th NESI Stakeholders Meeting in Abuja, NERC Vice Chairman, Dr Musiliu Oseni, disclosed that between 600,000 and 700,000 meters are currently available nationwide.
He urged distribution companies to improve awareness and accelerate deployment, stressing that government funding has already been provided and that DisCos must rise to the challenge.
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Similarly, NERC Commissioner for Corporate Services, Nathan Shatti, cautioned DisCos against acting as though they were doing customers a favour. Reviewing Meter Asset Provider refund and installation data, he pointed out the “poor performance” of certain utilities, noting that Abuja and Kano DisCos have recorded only two per cent compliance on refunds.
Addressing the backlog of paid-for but uninstalled meters, Shatti dismissed technical justifications, stating, “If your network is not ready for metering, do not collect people’s money.”
He added that failure to install meters or transformers results in losses for DisCos, making it imperative for them to meter customers and resolve transformer issues.
Shatti also disclosed that more than 350,000 meters are yet to be migrated to the new STS standard, calling for an immediate cleanup of outdated records.