Francesca Odimgbe
The Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the State’s new electricity law is now a reliable ladder that will support and facilitate the transformation of
Lagos into a true 21st-century economy.
The implementation of the law will also reduce the State’s reliance on the national grid, he said.
According to the Governor, the Lagos Electricity Bill 2024 newly signed into law will address the State’s power problems and tackle insecurity.
The Governor said this while signing the Bill into law on Tuesday.
The law is a comprehensive plan to resolve challenges in the energy sector and is expected to lay a foundation for economic and industrial growth in Lagos.
The Bill is a major step by the state government to ensure a 24-hour electricity supply to every nook and cranny of the state, following the Federal Government’s approval for States to generate and distribute energy in 2023.
It also aims to reduce the State’s dependency on the national grid.
Sanwo-Olu emphasised the importance of the Bill in transforming Lagos into a global city with a reliable and uninterrupted power supply.
The Governor said, “We all have a common objective, an objective where we want to improve and develop the energy infrastructure of our state. Once we do that, we know that it will transform into an economic benefit for the citizens, ensuring that people can have a better security network in terms of making Lagos a true 21st-century economy, not being scared or worried about lights or illumination in some parts of the city.
“But more importantly, small businesses do not need to have three different energy sources, where they need to have a backup or a backup to a backup.
“So for me, it’s a happy day. It’s a day that we can celebrate ourselves. But I want to say that, indeed, the job has just started, the journey, you know, has been laid for us.”
In November, the Lagos State Government called on independent power producers and energy solution firms to submit bids for constructing gas-fired power plants to bridge the state’s persistent electricity gap.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, in partnership with the Office of Public-Private Partnerships, made the call for the initiative to enhance Lagos’s power supply through the Clean Lagos Electricity Market