Lagos State has made history by becoming the first state to develop an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that will meet the long-term electricity needs for the next 20 years.
EKO HOT BLOG reports that Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, disclosed that the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) will improve sector planning and coordination to provide stable and sustainable energy to all citizens and businesses.
EDITOR’S PICKS
-
BREAKING: Police Arrests Cultists With Firearms In Lagos
-
Lagos State Gets Automobile Hub In UNILAG, To Begin Manufacturing Of Cars
-
Why We Will Mobilize Support For Tinubu, Other APC Candidates – Lagos Voters
The Governor also appealed to members of the House of Representatives to allow input of sub-national governments in the Electricity Bill 2022.
Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke on Tuesday at Lagos House, Ikeja during the handover ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Lagos State Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
The IRP is to bolster the overall energy security for residents, which was commissioned in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development USAID, and Power Africa as part of the Nigeria Power Sector Programme, PA-NPSP.
Sanwo-Olu revealed that the Plan will also outline resource development plans for the next 20 years to meet the long-term electricity needs of the State’s residents, businesses, industries, and public/government premises such as hospitals and health clinics.
The governor disclosed that Lagos is the first State to come up with the IRP initiative noting that despite privatisation, a lot more is needed to be done in the power sector, and it will be better for each State to identify and proffer solutions to their peculiar power needs.
He said: “There has been some form of privatisation but we still need a lot more. There is a bill that is currently with the National Assembly, specifically in the House of Representatives, that we need to make a big case about.”
“We want our input in the bill. We want the members of the House of Representatives to call sub-national; states so that we can have proper input into the bill and finally unbundle all of the bottlenecks in the power sector.
“We can sit down together and bring about a bill that is bankable; a bill that will help private sector funding and financing in today’s sector and a bill in which everybody can move at their pace; every location can actually analyse what their demands are and what their future demands would be. This kind of bill will help all of us do a good job of our worth.”
“We can indeed make this economy work for our people. We can make it work for small and medium businesses and cooperate to have access to their power needs l. It is only when we do that that we will trickle-fold the GDP of this State and of course by extension, the GDP of this country.
“I want to say to every member that this is a job cut out, we cannot go to sleep. This document should not just stay on our shelf, it is something that we need to analyse and digest,” the Governor said.
The United States Consul-General, Lagos, Mr. Williams Stevens, in his address, described electricity as the basis of economic growth, trade and investments, adding that the United States government is excited to partner with Lagos State.
“The U.S. government is committed to expanding and supporting the modernization of Lagos’s energy sector, building a foundation for broad and inclusive economic and social development.
FURTHER READING
-
New Virus: Lagos Begins Immediate Vaccination To Prevent 50,000 Deaths
-
Sanwo-Olu Unveils 37 Cultural Wonders of Nigeria At NAFEST 2022
-
Video: Lagos State Ordered Investigation Into Alleged Case Of Sexual Abuse
“This Integrated Resource Plan is a concrete testament to the partnership between the United States and Lagos State as we both work together to create a sustainable and equitable future,” he said.
Click to watch video of the week here
Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:
Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.
Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.
Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611
