From David Onuoja, Abuja
Nigerians now have relief, as the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON), has withdrawn its suit against the Federal Government, ending a dispute that had blocked the procurement of 1.55 million smart meters and clearing the way for the various government metering intervention programmes in the Country.
This gave government metering intervention programmes such as Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF 3), and the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), to move forward at full pace.
The withdrawal, according to a statement issued by the office of the Minister of power, Joseph Tegbe, said, the action was achieved through a Notice of discontinuance filed at the Federal High Court in Kano, after the intervention of the Minister, culminating in a high-level resolution meeting between AMMON and other government agencies.
This brings to an end a standoff that culminated in an injunction AMMON secured in April 2026, halting bidding on the various metering procurement programmes.
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The Minister of Power, working with other government agencies including the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), proffered a mutually-agreeable solution that addressed local manufacturers’ concerns within the limits of local and international competitive procurement rules. The engagement produced the commitment that persuaded AMMON to withdraw its suit, allowing the programme’s stalled procurement to resume.
Resolving this dispute through dialogue rather than confrontation, the Minister has kept faith with the ‘Nigeria First’ push for local industrial participation while safeguarding the financing Nigeria needs to close its electricity metering gap. The outcome also reflects the pragmatic, result-oriented style Tegbe has brought to the power sector, in line with the bold vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose Renewed Hope Agenda, places industrial self-reliance and the rapid delivery of power sector reforms at the centre of its economic programme.
Closing Nigeria’s metering gap remains central to improving revenue collection for the distribution companies and ending the estimated billing that has long frustrated electricity consumers.
The resolution is one of the sector interventions that reflects the Federal Ministry of Power’s broader push, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, to deliver reliable and affordable power through closer collaboration between government and stakeholders across the Nigerian power sector.
