General
Power Crisis: Lagos Assembly Invites Royal Gardens Estate Residents
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Members of the Royal Gardens Estate Residents Association (RGERA) in the Ajah area of Lagos State have been invited by the Lagos State House of Assembly for a meeting intended to resolve the electricity crisis between them and the developer of the estate, Trojan Estates, believed to be owned by a relative of President Bola Tinubu, Mr Kunle Tinubu.
Royal Gardens Estate has been without public electricity for over a year, following the disconnection of the community from the national grid by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) on May 26, 2024.
At the heart of the crisis is the imposition of a bulk metering system under which the entire estate is billed collectively, in violation of the 2023 Electricity Act.
While many other estates in Lagos, including VGC, Nicon Town, and Crown Estate, have successfully transitioned to direct metering, Trojan Estates has reportedly resisted such reforms.
EKEDC had previously indicated its readiness to migrate Royal Gardens to direct billing if allowed, but Trojan has insisted on maintaining the bulk system.
This has left residents, who are forced to pay a controversial N27,000 monthly electricity levy, plunged into darkness whenever there is a shortfall in payments to EKEDC, regardless of whether individuals have topped up their meters.
The electricity dispute has further exposed cracks in estate governance. Residents accuse Trojan Estates of unilateral decision-making and a refusal to recognise the democratically elected Royal Gardens Estate Residents Association (RGERA) executive committee.
Also among allegations levelled against Trojan are attempts to dismantle community-funded infrastructure such as solar streetlights, arbitrary disconnection of homes, imposition of service charges without consultation, and a breakdown in basic services such as waste collection.
The dispute has already spilled into the courts. After the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) invited both parties for hearings on direct metering, Trojan reportedly refused to attend and instead filed a lawsuit challenging NERC’s authority.
The matter, brought under Trojan’s operating company, Solar Gardens Project Ltd, is currently before Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
The Assembly’s move is widely seen as an attempt to mediate in the festering crisis before it spirals further.
In a letter dated September 20, 2025, and signed by the Clerk of the House, O.B. Onafeko, the state’s parliament asked the association’s chairman to appear before its Committee on Housing on Tuesday, September 23, at the Assembly Complex, Alausa, Ikeja.
“Further to the receipt of your petition on the above subject, I write to invite you to a meeting with the Committee on Housing. You are enjoined to attend the meeting along with relevant documents that would facilitate fruitful deliberations,” a part of the letter stated.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has explained why it initiated a move to freeze the bank account of the Osun State government.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Governor of Osun State, Mr Ademola Adeleke, claimed that the anti-money laundering agency asked one of its bankers, First Bank, not to release funds to the state government.
According to the Governor, this was part of the strategies to frustrate his administration ahead of the August 15, 2026, governorship election in the state.
Reacting to the issue on Wednesday night, the EFCC, in a statement, said it has been investigating the state government since March 2026 over an alleged “fraudulent handling of Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) account to the tune of N11.0 billion.
The organisation noted that some officials of the state government, especially the Accountant General of the State, have had interview sessions with investigators of the EFCC.
“These ongoing investigations of the state government would not have warranted any placement of Post No Debit order on its account but for the precipitate and unwarranted movement of funds from the accounts to different suspicious accounts since August 2, 2026.
“The commission noticed huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities and had to swiftly halt the trend by freezing the accounts from which such heavy funds are being moved,” parts of the statement said.
In the disclosure, the agency noted that its preventive mandate is a public-inclined framework of safeguarding public funds, assets and resources, stressing that it cannot “watch idly while a state government’s account is being pillaged.”
“While the commission is fully aware of the impending governorship election in Osun State, it has a responsibility to act in defence of the sanctity of the funds of the state. It will be uncharitable for the commission to allow an excuse of an upcoming election to fold its arms to perform its legally-assigned functions,” it pointed out.
The EFCC disclosed that it is “keeping watch over the finances of other states like Osun State. Many of these states are on the investigative radar of the commission to ensure accountability and probity. The commission has always pointed out that it is non-partisan and non-sectarian but always working in the overall interests of Nigerians. The Osun State government account was frozen to save public funds from being looted.”
The organisation urged the public “to ignore false narratives and deliberate demonisation of the works of the EFCC. The interests of all Nigerians are greater and will always be protected by the commission.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has launched a mobile application designed to monitor fuel consumption patterns in real time across retail outlets nationwide.
The NMDPRA, established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, is responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum operations. The deployment of the mobile application aligns with the authority’s broader efforts to leverage technology to improve regulatory compliance and strengthen accountability.
The pilot phase of the project began on August 1 in Abuja and its six Area Councils, the authority said in a statement published on X.
As part of the rollout, the Executive Director for Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure (DSSRI), Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, led a team alongside officials from the Abuja Regional Office to assess the readiness and operational performance of the digital platform at participating retail outlets.
According to the NMDPRA, the application captures inventory and compliance data in real time, enabling regulators to monitor fuel distribution more effectively while improving operational efficiency across the sector.
The authority said the platform would generate reliable, data-driven insights to support evidence-based decision-making, strengthen national energy security planning and enhance transparency in the downstream petroleum industry.
It added that the initiative is expected to provide significant value to government, investors, operators and other stakeholders by improving access to accurate fuel consumption and compliance data.
Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector has undergone significant changes since the deregulation of the petrol market and the removal of fuel subsidies, with regulators placing greater emphasis on data-driven supervision to ensure product availability, prevent supply disruptions and discourage sharp regional disparities in distribution.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
No doubt, moving money among African markets remains a slow, fragmented process that relies on multiple intermediaries and prolonged settlement cycles.
To solve this issue and drive the development of stablecoin-enabled payment services for businesses across the continent, Onafriq has joined forces with a leading stablecoin infrastructure provider, Privy.
The collaboration will enable Onafriq to create and manage embedded digital asset solutions for its partners and, in time, institutional clients where regulation allows. The initial phase focuses on cross-chain stablecoin transfers and treasury and settlement workflows, creating the foundation for future cross-border payment and liquidity solutions.
Integrating Privy’s secure infrastructure enables Onafriq to build the capabilities required to support a new generation of efficient digital payment services for banks, fintechs, and mobile money operators.
This partnership is a key component of Onafriq’s broader strategy to modernise pan-African payment infrastructure, enabling secure multi-modal wallets and more efficient movement of value across the continent.
The outcome will support a range of future institutional use cases, including stablecoin-enabled settlement, treasury management and liquidity services, as it reflects Onafriq’s commitment to driving Africa’s digital transformation agenda by investing in technologies that make financial services more efficient, connected and accessible.
It was gathered that Onafriq selected Privy for its enterprise-grade infrastructure to enable the seamless integration of digital asset wallet capabilities into its products, subject to regulatory approval, and deliver a simple user experience while abstracting the complexity of blockchain technology.
“At Onafriq, we keep investing in technology that makes payments faster and more accessible. Privy gives us a building block for faster settlement and better liquidity management. As demand for digital asset services grows, our goal is to ensure Africa’s payment ecosystem benefits securely and in line with regulatory frameworks,” the Group Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Onafriq,” Mr Luke Kyohere, said.
The chief executive of Privy, Mr Henri Stern, said, “Stablecoins will play an increasingly important role in the future of global payments, but real-world adoption depends on infrastructure that is secure, scalable and simple to implement. Working with Onafriq allows us to help build that foundation across Africa and beyond.”
