By Stella Odueme
The Federal government has begun the mass metering of the Nigerian Army formations nationwide with a promise to end the era of estimated billings in the power sector.
Speaking during the flag off of the metering exercise at the headquarters of the 9th Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Ikeja military cantonment at the weekend , Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu said the exercise would be in phases with the Ikeja cantonment being the first phase of the exercise.
A statement by Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser, Strategic Communications and Media Relations to the Minister on Sunday in Abuja said the minister said that the current exercise will last for six weeks before the second phase began.
Adelabu explained that for the current exercise, the sum of N12.7 billion has been released out of a total of N40billion for the mass metering project. “The mass metering in army formations nationwide will enable us know what is being consumed on a monthly basis in order to ensure appropriate billings and ease collections. The overall intention is to eliminate and make estimated billing a thing of the past”.
The Minister who was received at the army headquarters by the Commander, Maj. Gen. A.M Adetuyi and the Chief Executive Officer of De Haryor Global Services, Engineer Ashade Olatunbosun who is in charge of the metering project said the current exercise is part of President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda to ensure regular supply of electricity to army formations, nationwide.
“ This is one of Mr. President’s objectives as contained in the renewed hope agenda to ensure that electricity supply to the armed forces is prioritised and they do not suffer especially in the enjoyment of public utilities”.
Adelabu said the smart meters being installed are tamper-proof and would eliminate energy theft.
“ You can not by- pass the meter which also comes with an app where customers can also get statement of their consumption on a monthly basis”. He revealed further that the meter allows interconnectivity between grid and off grid solar power supply.
The Minister said that part of the energy blue print for the country is also to build off grid power sources such as Solar energy for military barracks located in remote areas without grid supply, “and where we have grid supply, we can interchange between the grid and solar supply if we are not satisfied with the number of hours supplied by the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) .
“Beyond metering, we have to prioritise electricity supply to the barracks”, he said.
Adelabu said the metering project would be extended to all military formations in the country with the objective of providing 24 hours power supply to the barracks.
Also speaking, Olatunbosun said the second phase of the project will begin in Abuja and Enugu, simultaneously adding that military formations across the 11 DISCOs will benefit from the exercise.
“Army formations in Jos, Abuja,
Ibadan, Enugu, Kaduna, Ikeja and Eko distribution companies will benefit from the exercise”, he said.
Speaking earlier, Maj. General Adetuyi said the federal government metering initiative is timely as the brigade headquarters has been having epileptic power supply over time. “ When I investigated, I found out that we were only being given three hours of electricity daily and on some days, we do not even get supplied. We have tried to resolve this and we have even involved the state government without any result.
“We also discovered that we were always being given estimated bills, though we would not have minded if power supply had been regular. However, this commendable metering project has gladdened our heart”.
