Manufacturers Withdraw Lawsuit Against FG, Clears Path for 1.55m Meters Procurement

The Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) has withdrawn its lawsuit against the federal government, ending a dispute that had stalled the procurement of 1.55 million smart meters.

The withdrawal was filed as a Notice of Discontinuance at the Federal High Court in Kano.

The Ministry of Power, which made this known, said the withdrawal followed the intervention of the minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, and a resolution meeting between AMMON and government agencies including the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Recall that the dispute began after AMMON secured a court injunction in April 2026, halting bidding for metering procurement programmes including the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF 3), and the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI).

According to the Ministry of Power, the talks produced a resolution addressing local manufacturers’ concerns within the bounds of local and international procurement rules, paving the way for the stalled programmes to resume.

“The Minister of Power, working with other government agencies including the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) proffered a mutually-agreeable solution that addressed local manufacturers’ concerns within the limits of local and international competitive procurement rules. The engagement produced the commitment that persuaded AMMON to withdraw its suit, allowing the programme’s stalled procurement to resume.

“By resolving the dispute through dialogue rather than confrontation, the Minister has kept faith with the ‘Nigeria First’ push for local industrial participation while safeguarding the financing Nigeria needs to close its electricity metering gap, the ministry stated.

Closing Nigeria’s metering gap is widely seen as central to improving revenue collection for electricity distribution companies and reducing estimated billing, a longstanding complaint among consumers.