Following the high and unbearable estimated billing system by the 11 distribution companies, electricity consumers have called for investigation into the disbursement of over N200 billion invested in the procurement of meters.
Expressing concern on the disbursement of the seed capital, National President, Association For Public Policy Analysis, Chief Princewill Okorie, queried the status of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) for which N200 billion was committed.
According to him, out of the total money, over N59 billion was disbursed for the implementation of the pilot phase in 2020. He, therefore, queried the whereabouts of the remaining fund.
“Our major concern in this regard is that rather than address Nigerians on the status of the NMMP which N200 billion was to be committed to, and over N59 billion disbursed for implementation of the pilot phase in 2020, the government is talking about new steps.
He wondered why the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu said that the government has procured 1.8 million meters to curb estimated billing without throwing light on the metering policies such as the Meter Assets Provider introduced in 2018 and the NMMP introduced by government before his emergence as the Minister of Power.
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“There is need for evaluation of the successes or otherwise of these earlier introduced policies for which consumers and government had spent money on since 2018 before speaking on the new steps. This calls for the oversight and investigative role of the legislature.
We are strongly convinced that this investigation should diligently be carried out by the Banking Regulations Committee of the House of Representatives because the issues revolve around disbursement of funds which are loans to be repaid. Hence, issues of repayment, value for money, interest etc are involved. It is also concerned with prudent utilisation of resources, financial management and legality or otherwise of some financial activities concerning the nation’s metering policy. For example, introduction of a certain percentage as meter acquisition fund in consumer bills and tariff increase approved by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for distribution companies (DisCos) to enable them pay back loans that most consumers never benefited from” he said.
