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The process of ensuring 24-hour power supply in Lagos State has begun with the signing of the Lagos State Electric Power Reform Bill into law.
The law, which the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, signed into law on Thursday, is expected to enable investors to generate electricity for the state and afford the state government to upgrade power infrastructure, as well as tapped into the gas market.
According to the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr Olawale Oluwo, the Power Sector Reform Law, would allow the state government to intervene in major areas of the power value chain to the overall benefit of the people.
His words: “One, the law puts the government in a position to be able to extend our guarantee to private sector participants who will come and generate power for us. By this guarantee, we are putting the balance sheet of our state on the table and assuring investors that as they generate power, they will get paid.
“Second, is to help the distribution companies to upgrade their infrastructure because if they generate the power and their infrastructure is still where it is today, clearly they will not have the capacity to carry the incremental power.
“The third area of intervention is that it (the law) empowers us to be able to open up the gas market in Lagos so that we can have gas on a consistent basis and that is how we can attain the 24-hour power supply.”
The governor signed six other bills into law same day. Thy are: Amended Land Use Charge Law; School of Nursing Law; Cooperative College Law; Cancer Research Institute Law; Amended Customary Court Law and the Yoruba Language Preservation and Promotion Law.