• Tegbe secures Discos’ commitment to supply more power to Lagos
•Sanwo-Olu: State committed to finding solutions to electricity supply deficit
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The federal government and the Lagos state government have commenced moves to deliver 24/7 electricity to the Lagos corridor under a pilot initiative approved by President Bola Tinubu, with the two sides agreeing to work together to address the technical, financial and regulatory bottlenecks confronting the power sector.
The initiative, tagged the 24/7 Energy Zones pilot, is expected to begin in Lagos before being extended to the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and Enugu-Port Harcourt corridors as part of efforts to establish more reliable electricity supply in Nigeria’s major commercial and industrial centres.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed the development after a high-level technical meeting with Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and other senior officials at Lagos House, Marina, the ministry said in a statement.
Tegbe said the ministry had engaged the electricity distribution companies operating in the state and secured commitments from them to offtake more electricity and provide steady and reliable supply to customers along the Lagos corridor.
He said the federal government was prepared to work with Lagos state across four priority areas approved by the president, including: grid stabilisation, market liquidity, grid expansion, and governance and regulatory harmonisation.
The minister said the initiative was designed to move beyond policy declarations and establish practical mechanisms for improving electricity supply to households, businesses and industries.
To drive the implementation, Tegbe announced the constitution of a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) to identify and resolve outstanding technical and institutional challenges and recommend immediate next steps.
The committee will be chaired by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), with the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Energy serving as co-chair.
Its membership will include representatives of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission (LSERC), Lagos Independent System Operator (LISO), Lagos State Electricity Agency (LSEA) and the office of the Minister of Power.
The committee will report to a Steering Committee to be chaired by Sanwo-Olu and co-chaired by Tegbe. The Steering Committee will also include the Special Adviser to the President on Power, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power and the Lagos State Commissioner for Energy.
Dor his part, Sanwo-Olu commended the federal government for what he described as its seriousness in addressing the persistent challenges in the electricity sector. The governor said Tegbe had, since assuming office as Minister of Power, demonstrated a willingness and capacity to tackle some of the longstanding problems affecting the sector.
He stated that Lagos State was equally committed to finding pragmatic solutions that would improve electricity supply and create a bankable, collaborative and competitive electricity market in the state.
Sanwo-Olu described the discussions as ‘open and productive’, offering a chance for participants to confront real sector issues and propose viable solutions, adding that the main goal was to ensure that the benefits from the partnership reach electricity consumers and residents. He also emphasised the importance of turning the retreat’s resolutions into real results.
The governor stated that the initiative alignednwith President Bola Tinubu’s vision of creating a more reliable and sustainable electricity supply nationwide, with Lagos playing a key role, expressing satisfaction with the strong participation from key institutions.
The Lagos initiative forms part of the federal government’s wider effort to improve electricity reliability by combining interventions in generation, transmission, distribution, market liquidity and regulation.
The 24/7 energy zones model is expected to provide a framework for concentrating efforts and coordinating the various agencies and market participants required to deliver more reliable power within defined commercial and industrial corridors.
The federal and state governments are expected to use the Lagos pilot to identify bottlenecks and develop an approach that can subsequently be replicated in other major economic centres.
Also present at the meeting were the Special Adviser to the President on Power, Lanre Babalola; the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Mahmuda Mamman; the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Kadri Obafemi Hamzat; the Lagos State Commissioner for Energy, Biodun Ogunleye; and the managing directors of TCN, NISO and REA, alongside other senior federal and state officials.