General
Stakeholders Lauds Lagos Assembly’s Decision to Empower LAWMA
The decision of the Lagos State House of Assembly to amend the state’s Environmental Law in order to give more powers to the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has been commended by stakeholders in the sector.
Last Thursday, the Assembly held a one-day Public Hearing on “A Law to Amend the Environmental Management and Protection Law 2017” organised by the House Committee on the Environment headed by Mr Dayo Saka-Fafunmi.
During the hearing, the stakeholders described such step as timely to ensure cleaner and healthier environment in the state following the failure of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative introduced by the present administration of Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.
Mr Olugbenga Adebola, an environmentalist said, “I will like to commend the proactive Lagos State House of Assembly members for this amendment.
“For a long part of 2016 and 2017 we have a big issue in environment family. It is good that more power be given to LAWMA as the regulator.
“I hope LAWMA, should be able to manage this. I commend the House.”
Mr Adebola urged the House not to jettison the private sector in the board constitution and looked into cost recovery level, and enforcement.
Mr Kadiri Shamusideen, a safety expert, who also commended the House for the amendment, called for efforts on the health and safety of PSP operators on the field.
Mr Shamusideen, Executive Director, Safety Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation, decried various unsafe practices of the operators on the highways, trucks and dump sites, which was corroborated by another expert Mr Adegbenro Adu.
Mr Olalekan Owojori, Consultant to PSP, who noted that waste management was service-oriented, called the House to look into how money for the services rendered by the operators would get to them.
Mr Owojori, who frowned at PSP depending on government bureaucracy before getting money for the service provided, called for a system that would allow the service providers to collect their .
Mr Adedotun Oriowo, a PSP operator, said, “I salute House for the impeccable sense of responsibility. We are here to right some wrongs of the outgoing Lagos State government.
“The Cleaner Lagos Initiative distorted waste management operations in Lagos State. It should be expunged from waste management in Lagos State.”
In his contribution, Mr Ola Oresanya, the Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, said, “If the law is wrong everything will be wrong.
“I want to thank the Chairman of the committee for this painstaking effort to correct the wrong. The intention of this amendment is genuine and germane.”
According to Mr Oresanya, the authority will submit a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), especially on the functions of Public Utilities
Monitoring and Assurance Unit (PUMAU) bothering on waste management and revenue collection.
Mr Idowu Salau, a Consultant with the Federal Government on waste management, who commended the House, harped on cost recovery and identified user charge system and property charge system.
In his comment, Mr Ola Egbeyemi, President of the Association of Waste Managers (AWAN) thanked the House “for this noble gesture.”
“We have good laws but those laws are found ineffective because of enforcement. We should thank the lawmakers for revisiting this controversial law that have actually caused a lot of retrogression,” Mr Egbeyemi said.
In his welcome address, Chairman of the Committee, Mr Saka-Fafunmi said that extant law passed in 2017 could not meet expectations as discovered during impact assessment analysis.
“We cannot have a law that is not serving the interest of Lagos and that is why we propose several amendments. The amendment essentially bothers more on LAWMA law.
“As at when the law was made, we were looking at having a concessionaire-an operator that will take over the waste management of Lagos.
“No sooner had the law was passed we realised that it was not something that could stand the test of time here. We have decided to revert back to our ways of doing it.
“That is why we are empowering the PSP and every other stakeholder in environment. We must empower LAWMA and take away concessionaire,” he said.
Over viewing, Majority Leader of the House, Mr Sanai Agunbiade, stated that the proposed amendment affected only 48 sections of the 526-section extant law.
Mr Agunbiade said that the House had a penchant to monitor laws passed and conducts impact assessment and whenever a shortcoming was noticed,an amendment would be sought to make it conform to realities.
Earlier in his keynote address, the Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashirun Obasa, represented by his deputy, Mr Waaiu Eshinlokun-Sanni, explained that the House intention was to improve the environment and make waste management seamless.
By Dipo Olowookere
A $15 million debt facility has been obtained by Watt Renewable Corporation from the AfriGreen Debt Impact Fund to finance hybrid solar power plants to be built and operated by the former, especially in Nigeria.
WATT intends to use the projects to serve commercial and industrial clients in Nigeria, particularly in the telecommunication and financial services sectors.
By integrating solar hybrid solutions, the firm aims to significantly reduce diesel consumption and CO2 emissions, enabling its clients to achieve substantial energy cost savings while promoting environmental sustainability.
As a pioneer in renewable energy solutions, WATT continues to drive innovation in Nigeria’s energy sector.
The company’s robust roll-out plan includes deploying hundreds of hybrid solar power sites nationwide to meet the growing energy demands of commercial & industrial clients.
This strategic expansion aligns with WATT’s vision to revolutionize energy access across Africa, enabling sustainable development and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The funds from AfriGreen provide the critical capital needed to accelerate WATT’s ambitious projects, strengthening its market position and empowering businesses with reliable and affordable energy solutions.
Business Post gathered that to mitigate the currency risk for WATT in the event of devaluation of the Nigerian Naira, AfriGreen is offering a local currency facility that matches the payment structure of the power purchase agreements.
“We are thrilled to partner with AFRIGREEN on this transformative journey to expand reliable and sustainable energy solutions across Africa.
“With this support, it enables us to accelerate our shared mission of providing hybrid solar power to businesses, reducing carbon emissions, and supporting economic growth while enhancing energy security for our clients,” the Managing Director of WATT, Mr Oluwole Eweje, said.
“We are delighted to support WATT in rolling out hundreds of hybrid sites across the country.
“This represents another key transaction for AFRIGREEN in Nigeria. The combination of high energy prices, good solar irradiation, and strong demand from industrial and commercial energy users makes this market particularly attractive for companies like WATT.
“By leveraging these favourable market conditions alongside WATT’s exceptional operational performance and a well-structured financing solution, we are setting the stage for a strong and lasting business partnership,” the Managing Director of AfriGreen, Mr Alexandre Gilles, stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has denied issuing a directive that gas supply to power generating companies (GenCos) be halted.
In a statement on Wednesday, the authority also denied instructing wholesale gas suppliers to stop further supply of gas to companies due to failure in payment obligations.
The NMDPRA described reports stating that it has directed the stoppage of gas supply to GenCos over N2 trillion debt as “false and completely unfounded”.
“It has absolutely no bearing on the information shared at a recent stakeholders’ engagement held in Lagos between the Authority, the OPTS, IPPG and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry,” the NMDPRA said.
“The purpose of the engagement was to sensitise stakeholders on the requirements, opportunities and benefits associated with the implementation of the wholesale supply license as provided by sections 142 and 197 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
“It was a follow-up to an earlier stakeholder engagement held at the NMDPRA corporate headquarters in Abuja on November 27, 2024.
“The Authority wishes to reassure all our stakeholders and indeed the general public that at no time was the false statement made at that event and anywhere else, and are advised to completely disregard the publication as every effort is being made to ensure that the supply and distribution of natural gas and petroleum products to end users is seamless and unabated as we head into the festive season and indeed all through the coming year 2025.”
Recall that Nigeria’s national grid experienced another collapse on Wednesday, the 11th time in 2024 as Gencos couldn’t generate enough power, compounding issues facing the Nigerian power sector.
This was the first time in over a month as the last time the nation witnessed a nationwide shutdown in electricity supply was on November 7, 2024.
Before then, the country was experiencing an incessant collapse of the grid, which prompted the federal government to set up a team to address the issue.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria is currently experience a cut in power supply after the national grid collapsed for the 11th time in 2024.
This is the first time in over a month as the last time the nation witnessed a nationwide shut down in electricity supply was on November 7, 2024.
Before then, the country was experiencing an incessant collapse of the grid, which prompted the federal government to set up a team to address the issue.
However, just when Nigerians were thinking they will not witnessed another national grid collapse in the year, it issue reared its ugly head again.
On Wednesday afternoon, most of the energy distribution companies suffered power outage, prompting them to inform their customers of the situation.
One of the DisCos, Ikeja Electric Plc, in a message to electricity consumers under its franchise area, said, “Please be informed that we experienced a system outage today, December 11, 2024, at about 13:32 hours affecting supply within our network.
“Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders. Kindly bear with us.”
Recall that on Tuesday, in a report, Google listed national grid as one of the top trending searches by Nigerians this year.
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