Local Meter Manufacturers Withdraw Suit Against FG

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The court case instituted against the federal government by the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) has been withdrawn.

The suit was taken out from the court after a meeting between the local meter makers and the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, on Tuesday.

The national government was dragged to court by the group over the procurement process for phase two of the National Mass Metering Program (NMMP).

The World Bank, to support the distribution of prepaid meters to electricity consumers in the country, offered funds for the purchase of 1.2 million meters.

The domestic meter producers were angry that the central government was not involving them in the process, going to court to stop the exercise.

However, after yesterday’s meeting, both parties have agreed to an out-of-court settlement, prompting the association to officially withdraw the case.

The Minister promised to involve members of AMMON in the procurement process for the World Bank-funded NMMP phase 2 through a national competitive bid.

He noted that efforts would be made to work with the local meter manufacturers to implement other metering initiatives to address the huge metering gap in the power sector.

In his remarks, the President of AMMON, Mr Ademola Agoro, expressed the delight of the group with the intervention of the Minister, assuring collaboration with the government to close the huge metering gap of over 8 million.

“Though this is a painful decision for the members of the association, the decision to discontinue the court case stopping the procurement process was done in national Interest and because of liquidity challenges of the Power sector,” Mr Agoro said in a statement from AMMON.

“We, therefore, seek the support of all stakeholders to work with the association to develop the metering sector and the Backward Integration Program (BIP) of the FG,” he added.

Present at the gathering on Tuesday were the representatives of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), among others.