Data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has revealed that roughly 5.1 million consumers, representing 41 percent of the nation’s active electricity customers, remained without prepaid meters as of February 2026.
About 5.1 million consumers, representing about 41 per cent of Nigeria’s 12.31 million active electricity customers were without prepaid meters as of February 2026, according to data released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The regulatory body, in its January and February 2026 metering factsheet, disclosed that only 7.21 million customers had been metered across the country by the end of February 2026. This deficit leaves millions of unmetered power consumers heavily reliant on the highly controversial estimated billing system, an ongoing pain point for the nation’s energy retail market.
Despite the significant supply gap, the regulator’s data indicated a slight positive trajectory in the deployment of infrastructure across various coverage areas during the first quarter of the year. The report showed that the national metering rate improved marginally from 57.93 per cent in January to 58.57 per cent in February following the installation of 121,798 new meters during the month. This incremental push reflects ongoing pressure on electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to rapidly close their respective metering deficits and enhance transparency in utility billing.
A granular breakdown of the performance metrics across the country highlighted a massive disparity in how individual power distribution companies are addressing the consumer gap. According to the Commission, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest metering rate among the distribution companies at 79.37 per cent in February. Similarly, the Lagos-based networks maintained a dominant stride in customer coverage, as Eko Disco and Ikeja Electric also posted strong performances with metering rates of 87.62 per cent and 87.16 per cent respectively, while Port Harcourt Disco recorded 66.36 per cent over the same period.
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