The Joint Committee of the House of Representatives investigating the disbursement and utilization of the ₦59 billion loan allocated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) has formally queried the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Meristem Wealth Management Limited, and NESI-Stabilisation Strategy Limited (NESI-SSL) over alleged irregularities and underperformance of the initiative.
The NMMP, launched in 2020, was designed to close Nigeria’s metering gap, eliminate estimated billing, and promote local meter manufacturing. However, preliminary findings by the committee reveal that despite ₦55.42 billion already disbursed, the programme has failed to meet its core objectives.
Committee Chairman Hon. Uchenna Okonkwo, representing Idemili North/Idemili South Federal Constituency, expressed concern over ambiguities and contradictions in the programme’s execution. “The review of the management of the programme has shown a lot of inconsistencies which point to the fact that the programme has not been successfully handled to achieve the desired objectives,” Okonkwo stated.
The committee has summoned NERC, Meristem Wealth Management Ltd, NESI-SSL, and other stakeholders to appear at its next sitting. It also pledged to invoke constitutional provisions against any party found obstructing the investigation.