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LASG plans to establish an electricity market
- To boost electricity supply in Nigeria’s commercial hub
- The market to be operated by the private sector
The Lagos State Government (LASG) proposes to establish an electricity market within the state to cater to the electricity demand of the state. This was made known in a consultation paper by the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Olalere Odusote.
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In a consultation paper, the LASG proposes to generate, transmit and distribute electricity within the state. According to the consultation paper, the market will be regulated by a regulator and the state Commissioner for energy and mineral resources. The key players in the market will be private sector investors.
The state government plans to publish an electricity policy before the end of July and also draft a law focused on the development of the electricity sector in the state. The move by the LASG will guarantee electricity supply in the economic hub of Nigeria.
Privatization of electricity distribution services in Nigeria so far have proved a failure as there’s so significant improvement in service delivery. The reason is because corruption that has plagued the energy sector that the regulatory commission for supposed to keep in check had been not being effective. From my personal experience with Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) that sabotages prepaid meters so it can impose the fraudulent estimated billing through which consumers are defrauded, engineer evidences and forge accounts records to frame up consumers so it can evade paying the penalty for illegal disconnection as stipulated by law, it cannot be honestly said to be running a proper business, but a criminal enterprise! That such could happen can only be because the regulatory authority refuse to do its job, and its subunit office colluding with DisCo. While the Lagos State’s idea is good, it is the execution of it that’s important. The best ideas are only as good as those executing them, and if the track record in Nigeria is objectively assessed, there’s little reason for optimism. Energy is critical to both the security and economic development of the nation. However, long as there’s no accountability, corruption will always hinder great development possibilities, and the citizens will continue to be preyed upon. Regarding my statement on EKEDC above, they are welcome to sue me for libel, to prove they haven’t committed crimes that would disbar their chief legal adviser and earn the company criminal charges were we in a society where rule of law truly prevail.
Thank you for your reply Samuel. Indeed it is important that the implementation process is flawless.