Lagos State House of Assembly has decried the dearth of power supply in communities within Badagry Constituency I and other parts of the country.
In a ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’ raised by Hon. Bonu Solomon (Badagry I) during Thursday plenary, the lawmaker situates his plea for prompt intervention on the fact that the particular area houses two important border points of the state and that the abject darkness is already taking its toll on security there.
“I stand before the House to highlight the critical and prolonged power outage impacting Badagry West, including communities like Gbaji, Apa, Owode, Kweme, Seme, Asipa negatively.
“For four years, these areas have been without electricity, leading to significant socio-economic challenges.
Boonu expressed his disappointment in the fact that the area is one of the first points of civilization in the state but lacks basic social amenity particularly electricity.
“Badagry is the point of entrance into Nigeria through Lagos in South-West, it is saddening to see this communities in total blackout owing to power energy Infrastructural deficiency.
“Despite the fact that Badagry is one of the first point of civilization in Lagos, Nigeria, yet it still suffers lack of modern infrastructure such as Electricity. Electricity power supply to this axis is being connected through two lines of 33KVA and 11KVA from substation in Agbara Ogun state.
“Due to infrastructural decay with little or no improvement in facilities upgrading and maintenance culture, power supply trip-off always occur at little rainfall let alone heavy rainfalls.
Boonu also raised a concern that the continued lack of electricity is deepening hardship for residents limiting economic growth, and increasing vulnerability to insecurity.
Other lawmakers took turns to make their contributions on the matter, as Hon Suraju Tijani Ojo 2 corroborated the development while also citing the fact that for two years a particular area within his constituency had a fair share of power outage for two years, likewise Hon Aro Moshood Ikorodu 2 who reiterated that but for the house intervention that restored electricity in a community within his constituency, the story would have been the same.
Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti Osa 1) was however, quick to add that the major faults for the power outage lies with the private holding companies who had clearly fell short of their responsibilities of service delivery.
Hon Sabur Oluwa (Ajeromi Ifelodun 2) who chairs the house committee on Energy and Mineral Resources restated the fact that the yet to be assented Lagos Electrification Agency Law 2024 will play a key role in addressing the cited ills.
Hon Boonu Solomon
The lawmakers then urge the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, along with the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy & Rural Development to urgently evaluate and address the electricity power infrastructure situation in Badagry West.
They also asked Eko Electricity Distribution Company to partner with relevant ministries to create a sustainable approach for power restoration and counseled that the federal Government should create another sub-station in Badagry to serve Badagry community.
The Speaker Rt Hon. Mudashiru Obasa who presided over the plenary directed the Committee on Energy and Mineral Resources to investigate the issue surrounding the power outage and report back in one week.