The Federal Government has intensified its crackdown on extortion in the power sector, imposing a nationwide ban on electricity distribution companies (DisCos) and installers from charging consumers for the installation of new meters.
Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu issued the stern warning on Thursday, January 22, 2026, during an on-site inspection of 500,000 newly arrived smart meters at APM Terminals in Apapa, Lagos.
The meters are the latest consignment under the World Bank-funded Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP),a multi-billion naira initiative designed to eliminate Nigeria’s estimated seven-million-unit metering gap.
Adelabu emphasized that because these meters are fully funded through international credit facilities and government initiatives,any request for payment from a customer is a criminal act.
“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,” the Minister declared.
He further stated that the government,in collaboration with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), would move to prosecute any confirmed offenders to serve as a deterrent.
The DISREP initiative aims to procure a total of 3.4 million meters in two phases.
According to the Minister, nearly one million meters from the first batch of 1.43 million have already reached Nigerian shores, with approximately 150,000 units successfully installed across various regions.
Despite these figures, Adelabu expressed dissatisfaction with the current pace of deployment and directed that installation processes be accelerated to move customers off the widely criticized estimated billing system.
To ensure transparency, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Ayo Gbeleyi, revealed that the new meters feature anti-theft protocols and are customized for specific DisCo networks, preventing unauthorized diversion.
The government has also launched a digital monitoring dashboard to track real-time progress and a customer complaint interface to report extortion attempts.
The Minister also visited the National Meter Test Station in Oshodi to inspect quality assurance protocols managed by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA).
With more than five million Nigerians still lacking functional meters as of early 2026, the successful rollout of the DISREP and the complementary Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) remains critical to restoring liquidity and trust in the nation’s electricity value chain
