FG and Lagos Team Up to Push for 24-Hour Power Supply

(Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe. Photo by X/Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe)

The Federal Government and the Lagos State Government have set up joint committees to work towards 24-hour electricity supply in Lagos, with the state serving as a pilot for a wider power sector plan.

This was announced on Monday at the Ministerial Implementation Retreat on the Clean Lagos Electricity Market, held at Lagos House, Marina. Power Minister Joseph Tegbe said it is time to move from talk to action.

He said Lagos was picked first because it accounts for 40 to 50 per cent of Nigeria's electricity demand.

He added that some measures are quick wins and that Nigerians should soon start to see a difference in the Lagos axis.

The retreat created a Joint Technical Working Committee made up of representatives of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the Rural Electrification Agency, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Federal Ministry of Power, the Lagos Independent System Operator and the Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

It will be co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Energy and the Managing Director of the Lagos Independent System Operator.

A Steering Committee will oversee the work, with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as chairman and Tegbe as co-chairman.

Other members include the Special Adviser to the President on Power, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power and the Lagos Commissioner for Energy, Biodun Ogunleye.

The committees will tackle the technical, regulatory and operational problems limiting power supply, starting with Lagos before moving to the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and Enugu-Port Harcourt corridors.

The move comes as Lagos works to build its own electricity market and rely less on the national grid.

The Lagos State Electricity Law 2024 gives the state the legal base to regulate generation, distribution, supply, transmission, system operation and trading.

In April, the state signed power purchase agreements with Mainland Power Limited, Fenchurch Power Limited and Viathan Engineering, with payments tied to power actually delivered and metered.

Sanwo-Olu called the almost four-hour retreat very frank and said officials had found low-hanging fruits that could bring visible improvements for consumers.

He said the Steering Committee should speed up the carrying out of the decisions taken.

The real test will be whether the committees can turn these promises into more generation, stronger distribution and steadier power for Lagos homes and businesses.