Hope for 24-hours power supply came to life for Lagos residents, industries, businesses and households on Monday as the Federal Government and the state government commenced talks to work in synergy to deliver stable, reliable electricity to the Lagos corridor, as part of the 24/7 Energy Zones pilot approved by President Bola Tinubu.
The agreement followed a high-level technical session at the Lagos House, Marina, between the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, and the leadership of the Ministry, and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos.
The 24/7 Energy Zones pilot will start in Lagos and extend to the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and Enugu-Port Harcourt corridors, giving it a path to scale across Nigeria’s major commercial and industrial hubs.
The minister of power in his remarks at the meeting said the Ministry had engaged and secured commitments from the distribution companies to offtake more power and deliver steady and reliable electricity to customers along the Lagos corridor. Tegbe expressed his readiness to work with Lagos on the four Ministerial priority areas approved by the President: Grid Stabilization, Market Liquidity, Grid Expansion, and Governance and Regulatory Harmonization.
Governor Sanwo-Olu on his part commended the federal delegation for its seriousness, noting that since coming on board as Minister, Tegbe has shown the willingness and capacity to resolve lingering issues in the nation’s power sector. He said Lagos is equally committed and stressed the need to work out pragmatic solutions to make the sector work for Nigerians, and Lagosians in particular, creating a bankable, collaborative and competitive electricity market in Lagos.
To move from commitment to delivery, the Minister announced the constitution of a Joint Technical Committee to untangle knotty issues and propose next steps. The committee is chaired by the Managing Director of NISO and co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary of Lagos State Ministry of Energy with members drawn from NERC, TCN, REA, LASERC, LAISO and LSEA and Office of the Honourable Minister of Power.
The technical committee will report to a Steering Committee chaired by the Governor and co-chaired by the Minister of Power, with the Special Adviser to the President on Power, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power and the Lagos State Commissioner for Energy as members.
Also present at the meeting were the Special Adviser to the President on Power, Dr Lanre Babalola; the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power, Alh Mahmuda Mamman; the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat; the Lagos State Commissioner for Energy, Mr Biodun Ogunleye; the Managing Directors of TCN, NISO and REA; and other senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Power and the Lagos State Government.
