Mass Meter Rollout: We mean business, Aba Power MD *Sets up 10-Man Team to expedite action

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By Iheanyi Chukwudi

Managing Director of Nigeria’s 12th electricity distribution company (DisCo), Aba Power, Ugo Opiegbe, has said that the company is serious and meant business with it's Mass Meter Rollout Project.

Consequently, the company he said has set up a 10-person high-powered team to ensure speedy implementation of the project starting next week.

Opiegbe disclosed that the Mass Metering Rollout Project would provide 20,000 prepaid meters in April and another 20,000 meters in May in the Aba Ring-fenced Area, comprising nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State.

The Team, according to the MD is headed by the Head of the Metering Team of the company which is Nigeria’s newest DisCo, Alfred Ategie.

Other members of the project team include, the chief financial officer at Geometric Power, Aba Power’s parent company, Anthony Ike Alozie; the Head, Customer Care team, Ini Uyo; the Deputy Head of Geometric Power Finance, Sam Inengite; the Senior Manager in-charge of Branding and Communication at Aba Power, Edise Ekong, and Simeon Akpata who leads the utility’s maintenance team.

Announcing the setting up of the team in a statement on Wednesday, the Aba Power boss, expressed confidence in the team's leader, Ategie.

He said, “Alfred is the best man to lead this project which has to work round the clock to make the prepaid meters available.

He is not just an electrical and electronics engineer but one who has a rich experience in the meter installation business.

Ever cheerful, very hardworking, and a team player, Alfred joined Aba Power from Eko DisCo in Lagos where he excelled in metering."

The Aba Power boss described the project team as cross-sectional because it compromises individuals from various departments of the company who according to him “will not only bring their various insights into the implementation of the project but also help address existing and new challenges.

Host community issues are of great interest to us, hence the membership of Barrister Mike Nwogu, an indigene of our host community who is also our Community Relations, Regulatory, and Compliance Manager."

Customers in all the nine Local Governments Aba Power services, the Managing Director revealed, would not start to receive meters the same day.

He said, “We are providing meters feeder by feeder, meaning that we provide a meter to every house on a given meter and once we conclude on that feeder we move to the next."

Opiegbe, who said, “As you can see, we mean business," explained that the objective was to meter all the utility’s over 200,000 customers in the next year, adding that Kayz Consortium alone was providing 90,000 meters.

He disclosed that the 90,000 units “will be assembled in the Geometric Power premises in the Osisioma Industrial Layout of Aba," just as he gave the names of other meter vendors working with Aba Power as Eves Metering, Chint Metering, and DECSN Metering Limited.