The Federal Government has announced plans to train 5,000 young Nigerians, including members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), as electricity meter installers and technicians in a bid to tackle Nigeria’s persistent metering gap while creating employment opportunities in the power sector.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu disclosed the initiative through his official X account, describing it as part of the administration’s broader strategy to improve electricity service delivery, eliminate estimated billing, and equip young Nigerians with practical technical skills.
The programme will be implemented under the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), a government-led effort aimed at expanding access to prepaid electricity meters and improving billing transparency across the country.
The Power Force Programme
The trainees will participate through The Power Force, a skills development programme designed to provide hands-on technical training and connect graduates with employment opportunities within Nigeria’s electricity distribution sector.
The initiative will be open to Nigerians who have completed secondary school education, with a dedicated quota reserved for NYSC members.
By developing a larger pool of certified meter installers, the government hopes to accelerate the nationwide deployment of electricity meters while creating new career pathways for young people.
Tackling Nigeria’s Estimated Billing Challenge
For years, estimated billing has remained one of the biggest concerns for electricity consumers in Nigeria.
Under the system, customers without prepaid meters are billed based on estimated electricity consumption rather than actual usage, often leading to disputes over excessive charges.
Expanding access to prepaid meters has therefore become a key policy objective, allowing consumers to pay only for the electricity they use while improving transparency within the power sector.
Closing Nigeria’s Metering Gap
The announcement follows the Federal Government’s recent plan to deploy seven million electricity meters across the country.
However, implementation has faced setbacks.
In April 2026, the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) secured a court injunction preventing the opening of bids for the international procurement of 1.55 million smart meters, creating uncertainty around a $500 million World Bank-supported metering programme.
According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Nigeria ended 2025 with just over 6.9 million metered electricity customers, representing a national metering rate of 57.27%.
This leaves approximately 5.19 million active electricity customers still relying on estimated billing, nearly half of all electricity users nationwide.
Building the Workforce for Meter Deployment
While training 5,000 technicians will not eliminate Nigeria’s metering deficit on its own, the initiative addresses one of the critical bottlenecks slowing deployment: the shortage of qualified personnel to install meters at scale.
Even when funding and meter procurement are available, nationwide rollout depends on having enough trained technicians to complete installations across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
By combining technical skills development with employment opportunities, the programme seeks to strengthen both the country’s electricity infrastructure and its growing workforce.
If successfully implemented alongside ongoing metering projects, the initiative could help reduce estimated billing, improve consumer confidence, and support broader reforms aimed at modernising Nigeria’s electricity sector.
