On Wednesday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Biodun Ogunlewe, restated the Lagos State Government‘s dedication to eliminating power outages. Assuring Nigerians during a one-day public hearing on the Lagos State Electricity Bill 2024, he promised that this issue will soon be a thing of the past.
A constitutional amendment, signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari on March 17, 2023, allows states to produce, transmit, and distribute electricity in areas served by the national grid.
The bill to repeal the Lagos State Power Sector Reform Law 2018 aims to establish and manage the Lagos electricity market and related matters.
Ogunlewe explained that if the bill becomes law, it would enable the state government to directly produce, transmit, and distribute electricity to end users. He also stated that all end users would receive reliable electricity within two years of the bill’s implementation.
“We believe that the passage is the beginning of the revolution that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has promised the people of the state.
“We are going to witness where the state grid will operate in such a way that we are not encountering the challenges that come from a largely single source.
“The first thing the people of Lagos should expect from this bill is provisions in respect of other operators coming into the market and in respect of environmental friendliness.
“At present, there are issues not allowing the operators to do their businesses, but they have been resolved in this bill,” he said.