President Bola Tinubu has launched Power Force, a scheme that will train 5,000 young Nigerians as installers to speed up the national rollout of smart electricity meters, tying together two of his administration’s priorities: youth employment and power sector reform.
Delivered through the Presidential Metering Initiative in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, the programme is meant to close a practical skills gap in meter installation while giving young people a direct route into employment and entrepreneurship within the power value chain. The logic behind it extends beyond training numbers: wider metering coverage is expected to cut down on estimated billing, improve transparency in what customers are charged, strengthen revenue collection for distribution companies and, over time, support better service delivery across the grid.
Training will be delivered by the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, with certification and compliance overseen by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency, and successful trainees will be connected to deployment opportunities with distribution companies, meter providers and other industry partners. The first phase begins in Abuja this month, with a rollout planned across the six geopolitical zones afterward. Applications for the first cohort open on July 4, 2026 and stay open for two weeks. Officials framed the programme as filling a genuine need on both sides of the equation. Nigeria Governors Forum Chairman Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq called it a federation initiative connecting opportunity with impact, creating jobs while strengthening electricity access in every state. Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe said a stronger power sector starts with skilled people, and Minister of Youth Development Ayodele Olawande argued that young Nigerians want opportunity rather than handouts, calling the programme a source of practical skills, recognised certification and a direct path to meaningful work. Presidential Metering Initiative Executive Secretary Olu Arowolo Verheijen tied the effort back to trust in the system itself, arguing that metering restores confidence: when customers pay only for what they use, revenues improve, investment follows and service gets better, and Power Force is meant to help scale that progress faster
