THE Federal Government has begun the mass metering of the Nigerian Army formations nationwide.
At the flag-off of the 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 end the era of estimated billings in the power sector.
Adelabu added that the exercise would be in phases with the Ikeja cantonment being the first phase of the exercise, adding that the current exercise would last for six weeks before the second phase begins.
He explained that for the current exercise, the sum of N12.7 billion has been released out of a total of N40bn for the mass metering project.
He added: “The mass metering in army formations nationwide will enable us to know what is being consumed every month 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 in charge of the metering project, said the current exercise is part of President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda to ensure a regular supply of electricity to army formations, nationwide.
He said: “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 a statement of their consumption every month”.
He disclosed that the meter allows interconnectivity between the grid and the off-grid solar power supply.
The Minister said that part of the energy blueprint 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 to provide 24-hour power supply to the barracks.
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.
Earlier in his address, Maj. General Adetuyi said the federal government metering initiative is timely as the brigade headquarters has been having an epileptic power supply over time.
He added: “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 the power supply had been regular. However, this commendable metering project has gladdened our heart”.