Millions of Nigerian households remain at the mercy of estimated electricity billing as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) revealed that 5.36 million registered customers are still unmetered across the country.
Figures contained in the regulator’s third-quarter 2025 industry report show that only 6.66 million of the 12.03 million active customers on the books of the 12 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) had functional meters as at 30 September 2025 — representing just 55.37% coverage.
NERC noted that 228,614 customers were metered during the period. Ibadan, Aba and Abuja DisCos led installations, accounting for 23.38%, 20.81% and 19.06% of the total, respectively.
Compared with the 226,959 meters installed in the previous quarter, Q3 saw only a marginal increase of 0.73%.
Mixed performance across DisCos
Despite the slight overall rise, nine DisCos recorded drops in installations. Port Harcourt and Jos posted the steepest declines, falling by 62.35% and 61.68%, respectively.
Aba (+173.45%), Abuja (+38.28%) and Ibadan (+17.72%) showed notable gains.
NERC further disclosed that most new meters were deployed through the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) programme.
“Out of the 228,614 end-user customers metered in Q3 2025, 176,302 (77.12%) were metered under the Meter Asset Provider framework,” the report said.
Another 44,104 meters were installed under vendor-financed schemes, 7,902 through the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), while smaller numbers came via the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) and DisCo-financed models.
Under the MAP scheme alone, installations rose by 18.20% compared with Q2 2025, with Ibadan (53,441), Abuja (35,449) and Benin (26,690) recording the highest volumes.
Why the metering gap matters
Consumer groups have repeatedly argued that the widening metering gap exposes households to arbitrary estimated bills and frequent disputes with DisCos.
NERC maintains that expanding metering remains central to improving transparency, restoring trust and stabilising revenue across the power sector.
