Lagos Assembly set to drive N24bn Light-Up project

Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday, inaugurated a six-man ad hoc committee to drive the N24 billion Light-Up Project by the state government.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the inauguration of the committee followed the resolution at the plenary presided over by the Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, at the assembly complex in Ikeja.

Meranda named a six-man committee to include: Abiodun Tobun, Desmomd Elliot, Stephen Ogundipe, Abiodun Orekoya, Femi Saheed and Sabur Oluwa.

She said that the committee was expected to report back to the assembly in the next two weeks.

Meranda said that all hands must be on deck to light up Lagos, adding that the project was important to people in all the nooks and crannies of the state.

She said the purpose of the discussion was for the people of the state to have the benefits of having lights on their streets and ensuring that they were able to guarantee the security of lives and property.

“This is the only way to reduce the problem of insecurity; when everywhere is very dark, you need to know who is approaching you so as to find out if the person intends to attack you; that is what the project intends to achieve.

“It is also important at this point to sensitise the local government chairmen that any road contract given out, street lights should be part of it.

“They should go together and not to start cutting cost, thereby making government to start breaking anything again after constructing the roads,” she said.

Meranda also said that street lights could be done in the state, adding that all it required was for people to be trained on how to produce and install them.

“If we can produce transformers through Minister of Power, street lights and solar street lights should be the least of the things we can do. So I think all hands must be on deck in order to light up Lagos.

“Production of street lights is something very important and I think we should start looking towards that direction in order to get that fixed,” she said.

The speaker said that the state and local governments should up their games in the aspect of maintenance culture, adding that they shouldn’t wait till when everything broke down.

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She also appealed to citizens of the state to see government’s property as their own and should be protecting them.

Earlier, the lawmaker who moved the motion, Sa’ad Olumoh (APC-Ajeromi/Ifeolodun I), urged the assembly to call on Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to expedite action on the project by awarding the contracts.

Olumoh said this was to ensure that the street light project, as contained in the 2025 budget, was actualised.

He also urged the house to call on the governor to direct the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, through the General Manager, Electricity Board, to ensure that the street lights on ground were up and running.

“This is because there are budgetary provisions for them in this year’s budget,” he said, stressing that local governments should also provide street lights within their respective areas.

Contributing, Stephen Ogundipe (APC-Oshodi/Isolo I), said that street lights would curb the activities of vandals.

Ogundipe, who is the ad hoc Chairman on Information, said vandals were fond of carting away cables in the state.

“So if we are going to embrace solar street light, we must also make sure that we have security in place to secure the facilities.

The Majority Leader, Temitope Adewale (APC-Ifako/Ijaiye I), said the essence of governance, as provided for in Section 42b of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), was about security and well-being of people.

Adewale said most of the areas in the state were not having their street lights functioning, stating that this should be addressed in order to enhance security.

The lawmaker also stressed the need for exploiting other alternative sources of energy, especially on the street light issue.

NAN reports that other lawmakers, while supporting the motion, called on government to step up action on the light up Lagos project.