Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has urged power sector stakeholders to tackle the region’s persistent electricity deficit, saying reliable power supply is essential for sustained economic growth and a resilient power market.
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has charged stakeholders in the power sector to end the culture of blackouts in the state, stressing the need for a more reliable electricity supply to build a resilient, progressive economy.
Governor Sanwo-Olu remarked at a stakeholders’ meeting tagged: Lagos State Government high-level strategic town hall meeting on ending the culture of blackouts and building a sustainable 24 /7 power economy in Lagos State,” held at the State House, Marina.
The forum brought together key public and private sector leaders to formulate concrete action plans for achieving reliable, 24-hour power in the State.
State Deputy Governor, Kadri Hamzat, and some members of the State Executive Council were also present at the town hall meeting.
The event also featured prominent representatives from the corporate and regulatory bodies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), as well as state power authorities such as the Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission (LASERC) and the Independent System Operator.
Sanwo-Olu stressed that addressing the region’s persistent power deficit is vital to unlocking sustained economic growth and building a resilient power market.
The Governor also called on stakeholders “to drop corporate egos, abandon long-standing excuses, and confront the harsh realities obstructing progress in the power sector.”
He acknowledged the frustration felt across both public and private sectors regarding repeated discussions that yield little practical outcome.
He noted that “following recent decentralization and regulatory unbundling in Nigeria’s energy sector—which empowered state institutions to manage independent power architectures—states can no longer blame centralized federal control for stagnant progress.
”We, state governments, used to give excuses that everything is centralized, so the Federal Government has unbundled it now. What have we done in a year and a half?” the governor remarked, stressing that despite establishing local institutions like LASERC, power supply challenges remain severe. “We take two steps forward, we go five steps backward.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu, therefore, called for a closed-door dialogue aimed at identifying systemic flaws, shortfalls on the side of government, and performance gaps within the private sector.
According to him, the goal of the closed-door interactive session was to move beyond dialogue and develop a functional, actionable roadmap to deliver dependable electricity to Lagos residents and businesses.
