In April, the federal government announced an increase in electricity tariffs for Band A customers. In Lagos, the move was criticised in some corners for increasing the cost of living and doing business. However, Band A customers were promised at least 20 hours of daily electricity supply.
However, it is not clear if electricity customers in Lagos are experiencing a 20-hour daily supply.
To assess electricity supply in different areas across the state, Ikeja Record spoke to consumers in different locations to get a sense of their experience since the Band A tariffs kicked in last April.
Areas with better electricity supply
Residents who spoke to The Record in areas under Ojo LGA, such as Ijanikin, Iyana-Isashi, Abule-Ado and a few under Olorunda LCDA, such as Ibiye-Ayanre (Badagry LGA) said they enjoy stable electricity.
An Ijanikin resident, Maddison Akpama, told The Record that even when power is interrupted, the blackout is ephemeral.
She added that residents enjoy close to 20 hours of electricity supply.
“We often do not have to worry whenever power goes off here because one can be sure that it will be restored in no time,” she said.
In parts of Alimosho LGA, the case is also similar, especially for persons living along Governors’ Road and Liasu Road.
A resident in the area, Mr. Ewubare told Ikeja Record that because of power stability in the locality, people hardly turn on their generator sets when outages occur.
Also, some locals in Ifako-Ijaiye LGA have good stories to tell. Mr Itiveh, disclosed to The Record that persons residing around KayFarms in Iju Ishaga, enjoy up to – and sometimes beyond – 20 hours of daily electricity supply.
However, Mr Itiveh noted that one of his friends in Fagba only gets about 12 hours of power supply.
Ogba residents who spoke to The Record said the area sees about 12 to 16 hours of electricity supply each day.
For some residents of Eti-Osa I and II LGAs on the Island, the situation has been much better than what they experienced in 2023.
An Islander, Ms Osiemi, admitted that power is mostly stable during the day and at night, except for some brief outages
Areas with worse power supply
The case is different for Lagosians not under bands A and B.
They told The Record that outages in their location can last for many hours of the day, even if they use prepaid metres.
A resident of Ibiye in Badagry LGA, Osondu Ogbenna, lamented that sometimes residents get electricity for about four hours in the day, and added that the supply is being rationed.
Locals in Aiyetoro (Ojo LGA), Surulere LGA, Shomolu, Oshodi, Ikorodu, parts of Ikeja, Akowonjo and Abule-Egba had similar complaints. This also applied to areas on the Island which are yet to be added to higher bands.