The energy rate for Band A users of Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IE) has been reduced from N225/kWh to N206.80/kWh

In a circular signed by the management of the company on Monday, IE said the customers will now pay N206.80/kwh, rather than the stipulated N225/kwh ordered by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

According to the statement, IE guaranteed to provide 20 to 24 hours of electricity to users under this Band, adding that the tariff for customers under other categories will remain the same.

“Dear Esteemed Customers

“Please be informed of the downward tariff review of our Band A feeders from N225/kwh to N206.80/kwh effective 6th May 2024 with guaranteed availability of 20-24hrs supply daily.The tariff for Bands B, C, D, and E remains unchanged.

“Signed: Management.”

More to come…

More details later….

Oluyinka Olumide, Lagos State’s commissioner for physical planning and urban development, says 80 percent of buildings in the Ibeju Lekki-Epe corridor have no government approval.

The Lagos government has been facing backlash for the demolition of buildings and shanties across the state.

Tokunbo Wahab, commissioner for environment in Lagos, has repeatedly said the demolished structures were erected in contravention of the city’s masterplan, were never approved by the relevant agencies, and occluded drainage channels.

Olumide, in an interview with journalists, said despite the rigorous procedures involved in getting government’s approval, property developers and owners are still circumventing due process.

“Just last Thursday and Friday, my team and I were in the Ibeju Lekki and Epe axis and you would agree that anybody passing through that corridor would see a lot of estates marked,” he said.

“We went there, and I can tell you that from what we saw, over 80 percent of them do not have approval.

“The procedure to get approval is first to get the planning information, as to what those areas have been zoned for. In this case, what we have is agricultural land, and people now go to their families to buy agricultural land.

“Of course, those lands would be sold because those families do not know the use such land would be put to.

“The next thing to do is the fence permit. If you missed the earlier information on not knowing the area zoning, at the point of getting the fence permit, you would be able to detect what the area is zoned for. After that, the layout permits a large expanse of land.

“So, you can see all these layers. But people still go ahead to start advertising. Some have even gone to the extent of displaying the sizes they want to sell. Imagine someone in the diaspora who wants to send money without any knowledge.

“Then, no approval is eventually gotten. Even if they pass the assignment and the survey to them, we would not grant the individual permit, because that area is not zoned for that purpose.”

Recall that Wahab, on Sunday, said owners of recently demolished property in Maryland had been served notices since 2021.

“We are not just doing demolitions. The law allows us to remove encumbrances on the right of way of the drainage channels,” Wahab said on Channels Television.

Philip Shaibu, the impeached deputy Governor of Edo State, has moved to reunite with Oshiomhole and vowed not to support Ighodalo in the forthcoming governorship poll in the state.

Shaibu made this known in an interview (with The Punch), stating that he is not ready to support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Asue Ighodalo.

The former deputy governor said he would not support Ighodalo because, despite several attempts to know his plans, the latter failed to open up to him about his governorship ambition.

Shaibu noted that he has consistently apologised to Oshiomhole. However, he does not regret his past actions because the former Governor led them to fight against godfathers.

He said, “First, I am not ready to support the governorship candidate of the party, Asue Ighodalo, and until the PDP does the needful, I may not be able to answer the question. I cannot support him because he didn’t open up to me about his ambition despite asking him several times, including at my house. The last time I asked was in November. So, I was taken aback when he spoke on TV that he was being pushed to run.

“I called him and asked who was pushing him to run, but he told me to ignore the report and that it was a social media thing. But his younger brother, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, said that the move to make his elder brother the governor of Edo State started two years ago. Edo State needs a “homeboy” to govern them, not people who will rent houses during their tenure and leave as soon as it ends. We need people who we can relate to and understand the challenges of the people. The PDP governorship candidate is more of an Ibadan man than an Edo man.

“I am ready. I have also consistently apologised to Comrade, and I am using this avenue to do so again over what happened in 2020, especially the language I used during that period. I look at some of the videos and the only thing I can do is apologise. However, I don’t regret the action I took because Oshiomhole is the one who led us to fight against godfathers. I felt what he was trying to do at that time was wrong. Reuniting with him will be interesting. Even amid the fight, I have maintained that he is my father. I will reunite with him sooner or later. He is also my mentor. So, a lot of things that I do, I learnt from him.”