Nigeria’s electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) may have spent an average of N670,000 to purchase each prepaid meter and other accessories through a N273.3 billion facility obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
If the report of CBN covering a detailed assessment of a N10.3 trillion developmental finance budget between 2015 to 2022 is anything to take seriously, DisCos spent N273.3 billion to provide 414,000 prepaid meters.
While the cost of prepaid meters in Nigeria between 2015 and 2022 stood at about N50,000 and N100,000 for single and three phase meters, the CBN report pegging 414,000 meters against N273.3 billion, meant that each meter went for N670,000.
Coming under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility intervention project, which targets increasing electricity capacity from 3,400MW to approximately 4,900MW, the CBN report showed that the DisCos spent the money on maximum Demand meters, Smart meters, and Single-Phase meters.
While the Federal Government at some point took over the mass metering programme with financing from the CBN from phase zero, the CBN, after the first phase backpedaled and sued some meter companies.
The apex bank had approached a Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, for an order to freeze 157 accounts of Meter Asset Providers for allegedly diverting intervention funds under the NMMP between January 1, 2020, to March 15, 2022.
The court documents showed that the apex bank requested 15 commercial banks and the Bank of Industry (BOI) to freeze the accounts of 157 companies for 180 days pending the outcome of its investigations.
The Guardian had learnt that while most heads of DisCos, especially those who have been ousted from the system were afterwards trailed by the EFCC due to the metering saga, and other allegations, the team of former President Muhammadu Buhari on infrastructure pulled the string that forced the CBN to abandon the allegations.
CBN report showed that Ikeja Disco received the highest of the facility, standing at N40.74 billion, Eko Disco received N34.85 billion in credit facility and Abuja DisCo got N34.69 billion. Ibadan DisCo got N27.73 billion, Enugu Disco was loaned N27.84 billion, and Kaduna Disco borrowed N24.36 billion, among others.
