Akinwumi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State, says plans to generate constant electricity for residents of the state in 2018 have reached advanced stages.

A statement issued on Monday by Habib Haruna, Ambode’s Chief Press Secretary, quoted him as making the promise during an interactive session with members of the business community and informal sector.

According to the statement, Ambode said the state government had already devised strategies to short-circuit power generation, transmission and distribution to ensure there was “24/7 power supply to residents.”

“Presently, we have less than 1,000MW in Lagos and the fundamental issues remain with generation, transmission and distribution,” Ambode was quoted as saying.

“Transmission is still owned primarily by the federal government, but in Lagos State, we have to be more creative and we have done Independent Power Project through which we were able to generate 47.5MW which was distributed short-circuiting transmission.

“So if it works, does it look like a template we can now use to get power freedom or what we call power security?

“If we say we are the fifth largest economy in Africa and we are not in control of how power is generated, in an economy that wants to move from fifth to third, then something is wrong.”

“So what we are saying is, let’s find a way to short-circuit them within the ambit of the law.”

Ambode said his administration is also talking to electricity distribution companies operating in the state to supply 24/7 power to residents at a higher tariff, subject to agreement of all stakeholders, while the government would be the guarantor of the people.