The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has disclosed that 60% of metered customers bypass meters.
Ali Ahmad, TCN’s General Manager, shared this alarming statistic during the National Institute of Physics’ webinar series 2.0, themed “Policy, Regulatory, and Technical Constraints in Achieving Energy Security in Nigeria: The Way Forward.”
Ahmad’s presentation shed light on Nigeria’s energy landscape, where out of an estimated population of 230 million, only 13,112,134 citizens are officially registered to use electricity.
Moreover, just 44.23% of these registered customers possess meters, indicating a significant gap in metering coverage across the nation.
With only 2.52% of Nigeria’s population metered, Ahmad emphasized that meter bypass directly contributes to the country’s energy poverty, characterized by unreliable and unaffordable energy access.
He stressed the critical importance of energy security, defined by having dependable and reasonably priced energy sources, to drive sustainable development.
Highlighting the various forms of energy poverty in Nigeria, Ahmad underscored the necessity of achieving energy sovereignty and independence for national progress.
Nigeria’s energy vulnerability, he explained, stems from heavy reliance on gas, insufficient production capacity, and unreliable gas supplies.
The TCN’s revelation underscores the urgency for comprehensive reforms in Nigeria’s energy sector, including robust measures to combat meter bypass, enhance metering infrastructure, and ensure equitable energy access for all citizens.
Addressing these challenges is paramount to advancing energy security and fostering socio-economic development across Nigeria.