The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has regretted the multiple grid failures and called out electricity distribution companies (DisCos) for frustrating independent power producers and creating bottlenecks to electricity supply, warning that their actions could undermine efforts to improve power delivery to businesses and households.

Chairman of the LCCI Power Sector Group, Olufemi Bakare, stated this yesterday while speaking at the LCCI Power Sector Group Conference held in Lagos. With the theme, Gas to Power: Unlocking Nigeria’s Energy Potential For Sustainable Economic Growth.

Bakare explained that some DisCos were exploiting their dominant position in the electricity value chain to create bottlenecks for independent power producers and other licensed operators seeking to deliver electricity to consumers.

According to him, such practices undermine the Federal and state governments’ ongoing efforts to address Nigeria’s persistent electricity supply crisis.

“It is unfortunate when certain players in the sector, distribution companies to be exact, decide to use their strong position and advantage that they have been given by this country to choke and cause bottlenecks. That is totally unacceptable,” he said.

Bakare said the consequences of resistance to power projects in Lagos extends beyond the state, given its importance to the country’s commercial and industrial activities.

He urged DisCos, power generators and gas suppliers to work together, stressing that the success of electricity reforms depends on cooperation across the value chain rather than actions that prevents licensed operators from supplying power effectively.

He noted that Nigeria’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy would remain difficult to achieve without adequate electricity, adding that the country still faces major challenges involving gas supply, transmission infrastructure and tariffs.

Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Lagos State, Biodun Ogunleye, said Lagos received about 1,000 megawatts from the national grid against an electricity requirement exceeding 6,000MW, forcing businesses and households to depend heavily on expensive self-generation.

He said the state was targeting 6,000MW of electricity capacity, comprising 4,000MW from gas-fired generation and 2,000MW from renewable energy sources.

He said achieving the target would require adequate and affordable gas supply, investment in infrastructure and commercially viable arrangements across the electricity value chain.

Under the Lagos Gas Initiative, the state government signed a strategic framework agreement in June 2026 with the Gas Aggregator Company of Nigeria and NNPC Gas Marketing Limited to improve access to reliable, competitively priced gas and support investment in electricity generation.

He said the framework was intended to help coordinate gas demand, facilitate infrastructure development and provide greater certainty for investors developing power projects.

President and Chairman of Council, LCCI, Leye Kupoluyi, said unreliable electricity remains a major constraint on industrialisation, raising production costs and weakening the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses.

He said some foreign investors fled to neighbouring countries because of Nigeria’s terrible electricity supply, subsequently bringing their products into the domestic market.

Kupoluyi called for dedicated electricity supply hubs in industrial clusters, commercial centres, markets and technology parks, combining gas-fired generation, renewable energy and battery storage to improve supply to productive businesses.

He also urged regulators to strengthen accountability, accelerate smart metering and establish predictable rules that would encourage investment while protecting consumers.

They all stressed that expanding generation alone would not resolve the electricity crisis without improvements in transmission, distribution and the commercial arrangements required to deliver power to end-users.