By Kingston Magare 23.1.2026
Electric distribution companies DisCos in Nigeria have been warned not charge Nigerians for the installations of electricity meters.
Nigeria’s Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu warned that DisCos who flout the order would be prosecuted. He disclosed that the Federal government has imposed a nationwide ban on electricity distribution companies (DisCos) and meter installers from collecting any payment from consumers for the installation of electricity meters.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, issued the directive on Thursday during an inspection of a new consignment of imported smart meters at APM Terminals in Apapa, Lagos.
The meters were procured under the World Bank-funded Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), aimed at closing Nigeria’s metering gap and improving transparency in electricity billing.
Adelabu stressed that all meters supplied under the programme must be installed free of charge, regardless of customer category.
“It is an offence for any DisCo official or installer to request a dime from consumers before installation. These meters must be distributed and installed completely free of charge,” he said.
“We are going to open a customer complaint desk whereby, if you notice any such requests for illegal money, you report it, and the authorities will follow up. We are not leaving the installation to the DisCos alone; we’re also creating an interface between the installers and consumers to accelerate the pace of installation.”
He disclosed that about 500,000 new smart meters had arrived, adding to previous deliveries under the initiative.
The programme targets the procurement of 3.4 million meters in two phases.
Of the first batch of 1.43 million meters, nearly one million have been delivered to Nigeria, with about 150,000 already installed nationwide.