Nigeria’s metering rate rises to 59.7% as DisCos slow meter rollout

Nigeria’s electricity metering rate climbed marginally to 59.69 percent in April 2026, but the pace of meter deployment slowed, signalling that distribution companies may struggle to close the country’s metering gap despite ongoing government reforms.

According to the latest Metering Factsheet released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), electricity distribution companies (DisCos) installed 111,654 prepaid meters in April, down from 115,905 in March, a 3.7 percent month-on-month decline.

The slower rollout came even as the number of metered customers increased to 7.44 million in April from 7.32 million a month earlier, pushing the national metering rate to 59.69 percent from 59.13 percent.

However, with active electricity customers rising to 12.46 million during the period, more than five million customers remain without prepaid meters, leaving a significant share of consumers exposed to estimated billing.

Among the electricity distributors, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest number of new meter installations, deploying 31,951 meters in April, followed by Benin Electricity Distribution Company with 22,270 meters. Port Harcourt and Abuja DisCos installed 13,668 and 13,506 meters respectively.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company maintained the highest metering rate nationwide at 88.78 percent, ahead of Ikeja Electric at 87.93 percent and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company at 80.08 percent.

At the bottom of the ranking were Yola, Jos, Kano and Kaduna electricity distribution companies, each with metering rates below 38 percent, highlighting persistent regional disparities in access to prepaid meters.

Enugu Electricity Distribution Company stood out as the only utility that recorded no new meter installations during the month, with its metering rate slipping slightly to 51.38 percent from 51.62 percent in March.

The figures show the scale of the challenge confronting the Federal Government’s drive to achieve universal metering through initiatives such as the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) and the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), both aimed at accelerating meter deployment and improving revenue collection in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.