The Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) has withdrawn its lawsuit against the federal government, ending a legal standoff that had stalled the procurement of 1.55 million smart meters and holding up key electricity metering programmes nationwide.
The withdrawal was formalised through a Notice of Discontinuance filed at the Federal High Court in Kano, following the intervention of the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe.
AMMON had in April 2026 secured an injunction halting bidding processes for several federal metering interventions, including the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF 3) and the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI).
The suit, filed by local meter manufacturers, challenged the procurement framework for the programmes. Its withdrawal now clears the legal hurdle and allows the government to proceed with the rollout at full pace.
In a statement on Tuesday, Adeola Adelabu, the special adviser to Mr Tegbe on strategic communication and media relations, said the minister, 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.
Mr Adelabu said the engagement produced the commitment that persuaded AMMON to withdraw its suit, allowing the programme’s stalled procurement to resume.
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“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 outcome reflects the pragmatic, result-oriented style Tegbe has brought to the power sector, in line with the bold vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose Renewed Hope Agenda places industrial self-reliance and the rapid delivery of power sector reforms at the centre of its economic programme,” the statement said.
It said closing Nigeria’s metering gap remains central to improving revenue collection for the distribution companies and ending the estimated billing that has long frustrated electricity consumers.
“The resolution is one of the sector interventions that reflects the Federal Ministry of Power’s broader push, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, to deliver reliable and affordable power through closer collaboration between government and stakeholders across the Nigerian power sector,” Mr Adelabu said.
