President Buhari has ended estimated billing of electricity

President Muhammadu Buhari has ended the corrupt regime of estimated and arbitrary billing of electricity consumed, and has directed a nationwide mass metering of residents, the presidency has announced.

To make it easier for Distribution Companies (DisCos) to meter every household and business, the president "has approved a one-year waiver of import levy on electricity meters, so that Nigerians who do not have meters can be supplied same as early as possible at reasonable cost," a statement from the presidency reads.

Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), James Momoh says "tariff reviews going forward will only follow service-based principles.

"Under these service-based principles, DisCos will only be able to review tariff rates for customers when they consult with customers, commit to increasing the number of hours of supply per day and quality of service.

"In all cases, poor and vulnerable Nigerians will not experience any increase. In line with these expectations, DisCos are directed to engage with their customers on a Service Based Tariff structure."

Henceforth, customers who have not been metered will not experience any cost increase beyond what is chargeable to metered customers in the same area.

"There will be no change in tariff for the most vulnerable as tariffs for those consuming 50KW  or less remain frozen.

"Customers receiving less than 12 hours of supply will also not experience any change in tariffs," Momoh adds.

The estimated billing regime has been a corruption-riddled one, with electricity personnel using the system to line up their pockets, amid the darkness and erratic power supply that have become the story of Nigeria for decades.