The Federal Government has ordered electricity distribution companies to resume the Metre Assets Providers (MAP) program, recently slowed down by the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).
Although the DisCos’ MAP has been in existence for some years, the NMMP program under the office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was introduced in 2020 to bridge the wide metering gap in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI.
While the MAP had barely reached 400, 000 homes in 2020, FG’s NMMP intervention in Phase 0 succeeded in reaching over 800,000 homes.
Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Garuba Sanusi, said last week that Phase 1 of the Federal Government’s NMMP was billed to begin in August, and as a result, DisCos had been ordered to resume and speed up on the MAP.
“By the end of August, meters from local manufacturers will be deployed by the DisCos. As a result, DisCos have been ordered to re-open the MAP, and customers are advised to take advantage of the window to purchase theirs if they cannot wait for the free meters,” he said.
Metering Expert and Accountant, Susan Okunade, told reporters that NERC should not have stopped the MAP from running in the first place.
“Firstly, I don’t know the reason why NERC stopped the MAP program that was moving fine. If the program was not stopped, we would have moved far with the metering gap because customers are ready to pay for the meters. Also, it would have put the DisCos on their toes and reduced the estimated billing being given to customers.
Regardless, he said NERC’s order to resume the program was a welcome development.
