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A legal battle initiated by local electricity meter manufacturers has emerged as the biggest threat to Nigeria’s $500 million World Bank-backed Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), forcing repeated delays to the procurement of 1.55 million smart meters and raising the possibility of cancelling the exercise altogether.
The warning was contained in the World Bank’s latest Implementation Status and Results Report for the Nigeria Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, obtained by Nairametrics on Saturday.
According to the report, while the programme continues to record steady implementation progress and retains a “Moderately Satisfactory” rating, the court injunction secured by the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) has become the project’s most significant implementation risk.
The World Bank stated that the programme was upgraded from “Moderately Unsatisfactory” six months ago following sustained improvements in delivery, but warned that the meter procurement dispute could undermine that progress.
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What the report says
The report disclosed that AMMON obtained a court injunction on April 30, 2026, preventing the opening of bids for the International Competitive Bidding (ICB2) procurement of 1.55 million smart meters.
According to the World Bank, the association, representing local meter manufacturers and assemblers, argues that the procurement framework sidelines Nigerian manufacturers and weakens domestic industrial development.
- “The most significant implementation risk at present is the court injunction obtained by the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) on April 30, 2026, which has halted the opening of bids for the procurement of 1.55 million additional smart meters (ICB2),” the report stated.
It added that the Transmission Company of Nigeria Project Management Unit has extended the bid submission deadline three times, with the latest deadline fixed for June 25, 2026, while discussions continue with relevant government agencies to resolve the dispute.
However, the World Bank warned that prolonged litigation may force authorities to abandon the procurement exercise.
- “If the matter cannot be resolved in the near term, cancellation of the ICB2 procurement may need to be considered to avoid market uncertainty, cost escalation, and further programmatic delay,” it stated.
The report also noted that contracts for 217,000 meters to be procured locally through National Competitive Bidding have reached an advanced stage after receiving comments from the Attorney General of the Federation.
However, the Bureau of Public Enterprises has linked the signing of those contracts to the lifting of the AMMON court injunction.
Meter rollout accelerates despite litigation
Despite the procurement setback, the World Bank said implementation under the first international bidding phase continues to gather pace.
- As of June 15, 2026, about 1.23 million smart meters had been manufactured, with 1.03 million already shipped to Nigeria.
- Out of that number, 482,000 meters had been installed, compared with 365,000 reported during the programme’s mid-term review in April.
- The report added that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s January 2026 directives on DISREP implementation are expected to further accelerate meter deployment across electricity distribution companies.
- The programme has also contributed to Mission 300 by providing direct electricity access to approximately 530,000 people, with the figure expected to rise significantly as installations continue.
Performance indicators contained in the report also showed gradual operational improvements across the distribution sector.
- The metering gap improved to 57.27%, while billing efficiency stood at 82.02%.
Weekly deployment reports further showed that customer meter installations increased to 379,380 from 265,000 earlier in the year, while direct electricity connections rose to 418,033 people.
In addition, over three million customers have already been mapped under the Geographic Information System initiative against a long-term target of nearly 13 million.
Additional financing advances as disbursement remains low
Financial data in the report showed that only $87.34 million had been disbursed from the $500 million World Bank facility as of June 2026, representing about 17.5% of the total loan.
Separately, under the programme’s results-based financing component, the Bureau of Public Enterprises has commenced the phased transfer of the $37.5 million advance released by the World Bank in December 2025 to electricity distribution companies.
The disbursement is tied to the execution of revised Performance Improvement Plans by the DisCos, with Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Yola DisCos expected to conclude their agreements first.
The report also identified delays in resolving a contractual dispute between the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Independent Verification Agent, describing the submission of a revised scope of work to the World Bank as overdue.
Meanwhile, preparation of an additional $308 million financing package is progressing.
According to the report, the concept note has been completed and peer-reviewed, while the World Bank team is awaiting clearance to proceed to the Concept Review stage.
What you should know
The Nigeria Distribution Sector Recovery Programme was approved in February 2021 to improve the financial and technical performance of electricity distribution companies and is scheduled to run until May 2028.
Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria cancelled $717.7 million in undisbursed funding under the World Bank-backed Power Sector Recovery Performance-Based Operation (PSRO), marking a major setback for efforts to restore financial sustainability in the country’s electricity sector amid rising tariff deficits, foreign exchange pressures, and persistent operational inefficiencies.
With the World Bank warning that the procurement could be cancelled to avoid further delays and cost escalation, the ongoing court battle now poses the risk of another setback if a resolution is not reached soon.
