Outrage as Lagos Residents Oppose Solar Energy Tax Plan

Recently, residents of the state were angry after a viral video on social media showed officials of Lagos State Ministry of Housing confronting a resident over solar panels installed on his home.

The video showed officials from the ministry’s monitoring and compliance unit telling the resident to seek approval and pay a fee before he could proceed to install the pipeline.

But the state government has said in response that permits and administrative fees for solar power installations apply only to residents of its social housing estates, not to private homeowners or tenants across the state.

The people’s anger is complex. Some are very angry that instead of the government appreciating the citizens for standing in the gap, it is going after the people with taxes.

But others warned that such requirements could discourage the adoption of renewable energy in a country with persistent power outages. Those on this side of the argument argue that the state government just wants to see its citizens in darkness and depression.

Reacting in an X post, Wale Ajetunmobi, senior special assistant on media to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the policy was misunderstood by the resident.

“Not all residents are charged for solar installation by the state,” he said.

“This development is true but the man who recorded the video seems to be misinformed about the guidelines of the Lagos State Government on the installation of solar energy systems in social housing estates,” he said.

He said only residents of government-owned social housing estates are charged administrative fees for alterations, including the installation of solar power systems.

Ajetunmobi said the requirement is linked to the government’s duty as facility manager of the estates. “Solar installations are considered structural alterations especially where these affect common spaces or the original design of buildings,” he said.

“Only residents living in government-owned social housing estates are charged administrative fees for alterations like the installation of a solar power system before any additional development can be permitted,” he said.

“Any alteration has to be processed by the ministry of housing’s physical planning and survey departments for approval, material compliance and post-inspection checks.

“Those solar power systems are typically installed by the occupants in the common areas; so this change needs to be approved by the facility manager (government) before any occupant can proceed.”

The person in the video is likely a tenant who rented one of the government-owned estates from the property owner and does not fully understand the terms of the indemnity document, he added.

He said the officials seen in the video were from the ministry’s monitoring and compliance unit, adding that the resident did not seek prior approval before installation commencement.

The government had previously taken care of liabilities from unapproved modifications, including roof damage and fire incidents, he said.

“He is likely a tenant in one of these social housing estates owned by the Lagos state government, otherwise, he wouldn’t have raised concerns about something that was clearly outlined in the indemnity document he signed before the government handed over the apartment to him after purchase.

“The general rule is that anybody living in an estate should consult the state government (facility manager) for permission before making any external changes.

He said unauthorized changes impacting common property could expose the government to liabilities with other residents.

The Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law states that any alteration in the structure of buildings must be approved by the relevant

authorities.

But what began as a government regulation over the installation of solar panels in the state-owned estates has spiraled into a heated public debate over governance, taxation, housing failure and the limits of state control in a city grappling with worsening economic hardship.

Apart from condemning the government’s action, residents are calling for the scrapping of such a law as they view it as commercialization of survival

For many in Lagos, the issue is not just about solar energy but a further layer in what they describe as an increasing system of levies, approvals and charges imposed on citizens already obliged to provide themselves with basic amenities.

Some quarters believe that while governments of developed societies subsidise the adoption of renewable energy, Lagosians are being asked to pay additional fees just to escape darkness.

Even the government clarification did not help in appeasing the people’s anger as tempers ran high in the entire state with many ready to take on the government authorities.

But many residents say the policy is just a “pilot phase” that could eventually extend to private estates and ordinary homeowners throughout the state. So, their thinking is that if they don’t react now it would be too late when the government would want to extend it to private house owners.

There are some concerns about why citizens who already provide their own electricity, water and security would be required to pay the government to install solar systems powered by sunlight, a natural gift to humanity.

A businessman residing in a private estate in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, Anthony Osewele, yesterday, lambasted the state government, saying, “The state government has no right to sell God’s energy.”

“When people make up their minds to take the place of God to themselves, you wonder if they had any iota of conscience in them.

“It is not the right of anybody to sell the sun’s energy given by God. We are talking about solar power from the sun; God free gift to mankind. The sun is the center of the universe. So, for me, it is evil and the height of wickedness for anyone in authority to even think about collecting money from citizens for using sunlight. This means that one day they will find a way to collect money from citizens for breathing the air. It is condemnable in all forms.

‘We are talking about other climes where the government provides electricity to their citizens 24 hours nonstop. But here the government provides darkness making life hellish and short for the people.

“And when the people move to provide alternatives just to better their lives, the government is here to add to their sorrow by taxing them for doing that. “This is very bad,” he said.

Also backing Osewele’s position is a lawyer, Marcellus Onah, who stressed that residents are not subscribing to solar power as a luxury, but as a compulsion imposed on them by the collapse of public electricity supply.

“People are going for solar because the government has failed to provide stable electricity, which is the minimum any responsible government should provide.

“We make our own water. We make our own electricity. We fix the roads around us. All of this and the government still wants to charge us for trying to survive. It is very bad and unacceptable,” he said.

An estate agent, Rowland Adebayo also lamented that Lagosians are increasingly being strangulated by multiple taxes and levies without corresponding public services.

They have issued parking tickets on the road. They’re asking for tenement rates. Every day there’s a new levy or another.

“I don’t mind paying taxes if the government is doing right things.

“But forcing people to pay to have solar energy is criminal. It is like taxing sunlight which is a free gift from God and we must resist it,” he said.