NATIONAL: Buhari to go tough on Discos, agents selling prepaid meters 

PRESIDENT Buhari has reiterated the resolve of his administration to put an end to estimated billing and improve service delivery in the power sector.

The president said he would not hesitate to mete out stiff measures to any of the Discos or their agents selling prepaid meters to their customers against the directive that they should be distributed free.

The Special Adviser to the President on Infrastructure, Ahmed Rufai Zakar, who represented Buhari at the FGN/NLC-TUC ad-hoc committee on electricity tariff stakeholders engagement in Ibadan, Oyo State on Wednesday, said the president understood the citizens’ plights on issues surrounding electricity and was determined to deal with bad elements.

He said, “We have made it very clear through the regulators direct order as well as intervention from the Ministry of Power that the meters are to be provided to Nigerians at no cost.

“Even for meters that were paid for, there is the directive from the regulator to the discos that they would need to find a way to reimburse those citizens over time.

“In cases where we find any disco or disco representative selling the meters or exploiting Nigerians to be able to get meters by paying, we would take the full measures of the law.

“The President has mandated that these meters must be free. We have also said that they must come from local manufacturers.

“This would create jobs and revive our industry.”