Lagos has been selected as the starting point for a Federal Government pilot programme aimed at delivering reliable 24-hour electricity to residents, businesses and industries.
The initiative, known as the 24/7 Energy Zones pilot, commenced on Monday following a high-level meeting between the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at Lagos House, Marina.
The programme will initially cover the Lagos corridor before expanding to the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and Enugu-Port Harcourt corridors, with the long-term goal of improving electricity supply in Nigeria’s major commercial and industrial centres.
Tegbe said the Ministry had secured commitments from electricity distribution companies to increase power offtake and provide more stable supply to customers within the Lagos corridor.
He said the Federal Government would work with Lagos State on four priority areas approved by President Bola Tinubu: grid stabilisation, market liquidity, grid expansion, and governance and regulatory harmonisation.
Sanwo-Olu welcomed the initiative, saying Lagos was ready to work with the Federal Government to resolve longstanding challenges in the electricity sector and build a competitive, bankable and sustainable power market in the state.
To accelerate implementation, Tegbe announced the formation of a Joint Technical Committee comprising officials from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission (LASERC) and other relevant agencies.
The committee will be chaired by the Managing Director of NISO and co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Energy.
Its recommendations will be submitted to a Steering Committee chaired by Governor Sanwo-Olu and co-chaired by the Minister of Power.
The meeting was also attended by senior officials from the Federal Government and Lagos State, including the Special Adviser to the President on Power, Dr Lanre Babalola; Deputy Governor Kadri Obafemi Hamzat; Lagos Commissioner for Energy Biodun Ogunleye; and the heads of TCN, NISO and REA.