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 Commission, in its January and February 2026 metering factsheet, disclosed that only 7.21 million customers had been metered by February 2026, leaving about 5.1 million consumers still on estimated billing.
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.
According to the Commission, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest metering rate among the distribution companies at 79.37 per cent in February.
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.
Benin, Ibadan and Enugu DisCos recorded metering rates of 56.75 per cent, 52.23 per cent and 51.83 per cent respectively.
However, the report showed that Yola, Jos, Kaduna and Kano DisCos remained the least meter distribution companies in the country.
Yola DisCo recorded the lowest metering rate at 31.86 per cent, while Jos, Kano and Kaduna posted 34.04 per cent, 35.37 per cent and 35.59 per cent respectively.
The data further indicated that Abuja DisCo added 18,352 new meters in February, while Benin and Ibadan DisCos installed 25,658 and 16,445 meters respectively.
NERC explained that active customers are electricity consumers who vended or received bills at least once within a 12-month period.
