19 March 2014, Lagos – Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola has debunked reports that there is an improvement in power supply in the state, saying individuals and companies still depend on generating sets.
Governor Fashola bared his mind on insufficient power supply in Lagos when power outage disrupted the Nigeria Governor’s Forum meeting held at the Eko Hotels last Friday.
Reacting to the development, Governor Fashola said he received a report that the generating set at the hotel had been working without rest.
“No mechanical device is designed to run for that kind of period without a break.
The standard usually is eight hours and you rest, but because of the importance of this event, they left it on. So for those who say electricity supply is getting better in Lagos, this is evidence that it is not true. The generating set has been running for 24 hours and it started overheating. If there was power supply, clearly, the generator would have rested but these are the problems that we must solve”, he said.
He however added that following the intervention of the present administration in Lagos Sate in the power sector through the building of Independent Power Plants (IPP), there has been improvement in terms of power supply to government offices.
Responding to a question on whether the IPPS would benefit the generality of Lagos residents, Governor Fashola said the legislation in the power reform sector limits the scope of the state’s intervention.
He expressed hope that the privatization exercise will yield the results that Nigerians expect in terms of steady power supply.
On the governor’s retreat, Fashola said the overall objective of the meeting was to discuss national issues.
– Daily Trust