AMMON rejects sabotage claims

The Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) has rejected claims that its recent High Court action is obstructing the World Bank-backed Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), a cornerstone of efforts to improve liquidity, reduce collection losses, and stabilise the precarious electricity value chain in Nigeria. According to Independent, AMMON maintains that its members remain fully committed to the programme’s objectives, but argues that the procurement framework must comply with Nigerian laws and respect the country’s growing indigenous manufacturing base.

The recent High Court action seeking to halt the procurement process has thrown a spanner in the works, sparking a fierce debate over national interest, local content, and the rule of law. AMMON has broken its silence with a robust, multi-pronged defence of its actions, describing allegations that it poses the “biggest threat” to the 1.55 million smart meter procurement as “inaccurate, misleading and lacking proper context.” The association argues that the path to the programme’s goals must be paved with integrity, transparency, and adherence to the laws of the land.

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AMMON’s defence of its actions extends beyond legal arguments to substantive policy engagement. The association revealed that it has held constructive meetings at the highest levels of government, including with the Minister of Power and the Minister of Finance. During these meetings, AMMON presented practical options for resolving the impasse, arguing that it makes little sense for Nigeria to borrow funds to import what can be produced locally.

This argument taps directly into the heart of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Nigeria First” policy and the broader local content agenda championed by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in the oil and gas sector. AMMON is essentially asking: if it worked for oil, why not for power? The association is keen to highlight the stakes involved for its members, who have invested billions of naira in local manufacturing facilities, technology transfer, human capital development, and quality assurance systems.

Sidelining this domestic capacity, AMMON warns, would have severe consequences. It would weaken investor confidence, diminish the benefits of technology transfer and backward integration, and undermine the very industrialisation objectives the government claims to pursue. The association argued that foreign suppliers, if selected, would still depend heavily on Nigerian manufacturers for installation, after-sales support, and services requiring local expertise.

AMMON’s position is that this dependency should be formalised within the primary procurement structure, not left as an afterthought. Far from being an obstructionist force, AMMON has positioned itself as a source of innovative solutions. The association revealed that local manufacturers have proposed a financing model under which metering projects could be funded through verifiable milestone-based payments.

This approach, they argue, would significantly reduce the need for external borrowing specifically for meters, freeing up available foreign financing for critical power infrastructure projects. This proposal suggests a public-private partnership model that aligns payment with performance, de-risking the investment for the government and the World Bank while ensuring that local manufacturers are paid on time for work delivered.

Perhaps the strongest element of AMMON’s rebuttal is its philosophical defence of the legal route. The association pushed back against the narrative that seeking judicial intervention is an attack on national development. The rule of law, AMMON argues, is a fundamental pillar of democratic governance, and resorting to the courts to resolve legitimate legal disputes cannot reasonably be portrayed as an attack on national development or on donor-funded programmes.

As the legal process unfolds, AMMON has expressed confidence that an amicable resolution is within reach. The association envisions an outcome that accelerates meter deployment while providing robust warranties and after-sales support, protects local investments, creates and preserves jobs, and strengthens domestic manufacturing capacity. Whether the DISREP steering committee, the World Bank, and the BPE can reconcile the programme’s tight timeline with AMMON’s demands for local content integration remains the defining challenge.