Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhmmadu Buhari on Wednesday night declared the era of estimated billing regime in electricity supply in the country is near with the commencement of mass metering.
He made the declaration via a thread of tweets on his verified Twitter handle, @MBuhari, revealing that the first phase of one million free metres distribution in some parts of the country is already underway.
Buhari further disclosed that 6.5 million metres, which would be locally sourced in the Presidential Mass Metering Initiative, would meet the national deficit and would impact an estimated 30 million homes across the country.
According to him, his administration decided to locally manufacture the meters to create jobs.
“Under the first phase of the Presidential Mass Metering Initiative, we are making funding immediately available for DisCos to roll out 1,000,000 Meters in the first phase, at no cost to consumers. Deployment has already started in parts of Kano, Kaduna, Lagos and Abuja.
“Future phases of this Metering Initiative will help us fully meet the 6.5 million deficit of meters nationwide, and will impact an estimated 30 million consumers.
“All meters under this program will be sourced from local manufacturers and in-country stock, to create jobs.
“We are committed to ending estimated billing in all forms in Nigeria, and ensuring that Nigerians pay only for the electricity they consume”, he said.
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