FG, Lagos set up committees for 24-hour power supply
The Federal Government and the Lagos State Government have set up joint committees to drive measures towards achieving 24-hour electricity supply in Lagos, with the state positioned as a pilot for a wider power-sector intervention.
The move was announced on Monday at the Ministerial Implementation Retreat on the Clean Lagos Electricity Market held at Lagos House, Marina, where the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said the focus must now shift from discussions to implementing measures capable of improving electricity supply to consumers.
Tegbe said Lagos was being prioritised because the state accounts for between 40 and 50 per cent of Nigeria’s electricity demand, making it critical to the Federal Government’s plans to improve supply along major economic corridors.
“We came with pragmatic solutions. Some of them are going to take action immediately- quick wins; some of them. I believe that Nigerians will start to see some differences in the Lagos axis as far as power supply is actually manifested,” the minister said.
The retreat resulted in the establishment of a Joint Technical Working Committee comprising representatives of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Rural Electrification Agency, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Federal Ministry of Power, Lagos Independent System Operator and Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The committee 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 separate Steering Committee was also constituted to supervise implementation, with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as chairman and Tegbe as co-chairman.
Other members of the committee 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, Biodun Ogunleye.
The committees are expected to work on the technical, regulatory and operational obstacles limiting electricity supply, beginning with Lagos before the approach is extended to the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and Enugu-Port Harcourt corridors.
The intervention comes against the backdrop of the state government’s efforts to develop a more decentralised electricity market and reduce dependence on the national grid.
The Lagos State Electricity Law 2024 provides the legal framework for an electricity market regulated at the state level, including provisions covering generation, distribution, supply, transmission, system operation and electricity trading.
The state has also been pursuing additional generation through private-sector arrangements. In April, it signed power purchase agreements with Mainland Power Limited, Fenchurch Power Limited and Viathan Engineering as part of efforts to improve electricity supply to critical infrastructure and other parts of the state.
The agreements were intended to strengthen locally available power while addressing weaknesses in previous arrangements, with the state saying payments would be tied to electricity actually delivered and metered.
Speaking on Monday, Sanwo-Olu described the retreat as “very frank” and said officials had identified “low-hanging fruits” that could produce visible improvements for electricity consumers.
He said the meeting, which lasted almost four hours, brought together senior officials from the Federal Government and Lagos State, including representatives of the TCN, NERC and other agencies involved in the electricity market.
The governor said the creation of the Steering Committee was expected to accelerate implementation of the decisions reached at the retreat.
The initiative is also expected to provide a template for addressing electricity challenges in other major economic corridors, with the Federal Government identifying Lagos, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and Enugu-Port Harcourt as priority zones.
The immediate test, however, will be whether the committees can translate the latest round of government commitments into additional generation, stronger distribution capacity and more reliable electricity for Lagos residents and businesses.
Tegbe said the government was targeting practical interventions that would begin producing results in the Lagos axis before the model was extended to the other corridors.
