The Minister of Power, Mr. Joseph Tegbe, has announced the establishment of a joint technical committee to drive the implementation of the 24-hour energy zones pilot in Lagos.
He announced the committee’s establishment on Monday during a technical session with Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, and officials of the federal and state governments, in Lagos.
According to a statement by the ministry of power, the committee is expected to resolve outstanding issues and propose next steps as the federal government and Lagos state work towards delivering stable and reliable electricity to the Lagos corridor.
The statement said the “24/7 energy zones pilot”, approved by President Bola Tinubu, will commence in Lagos before extending to the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, and Enugu-Port Harcourt corridors.
The initiative, the ministry said, is expected to provide a framework for scaling reliable electricity supply across Nigeria’s major commercial and industrial hubs.
According to the statement, the joint technical committee will be chaired by the managing director of the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) and co-chaired by the permanent secretary of the Lagos ministry of energy.
Members will be drawn from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission (LASERC), Lagos Independent System Operator (LAISO), Lagos State Electricity Authority (LSEA), and the office of the minister of power.
The ministry noted that the committee will report to a steering committee chaired by Sanwo-Olu and co-chaired by Tegbe, which will include the special adviser to the president on power, the permanent secretary of the ministry of power, and the Lagos state commissioner for energy.
Speaking at the meeting, Sanwo-Olu said Lagos is committed to the initiative, stressing the need for pragmatic solutions to make the electricity sector work for Nigerians.
On his part, Tegbe said the ministry had engaged distribution companies (DisCos) and secured commitments from them to offtake more power and deliver steady and reliable electricity to customers along the Lagos corridor.
He also expressed his readiness to work with Lagos on the four ministerial priority areas approved by the president, such as grid stabilisation, market liquidity, grid expansion, and governance and regulatory harmonisation.
