By: Manoah Kikekon
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| Olumayowa Akogun-Abudu and Babajide Sanwo-Olu |
LAGOS, NIGERIA — In a scathing critique of the current administration’s fiscal policies, Olumayowa Akogun-Abudu, a military veteran and former Lagos State House of Assembly candidate and chairmanship candidate of Ojo Local Government, has lashed out at Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu over the newly imposed solar permit fees on residents of Lagos State Housing Estates.
Akogun-Abudu, , described the policy as a direct assault on the resilience of Lagosians who have sought personal solutions to the state's chronic power failures.
In a formal statement released to News Peddlers on Thursday, April 23, 2026, Akogun-Abudu did not mince words, labeling the permit fee as a punitive measure against innovation and self-reliance.
“This solar permit fee is not just bad policy; it is daylight exploitation of Lagosians,” Akogun-Abudu stated. “After years of failing to deliver stable electricity, your government now wants to tax survival.”
He argued that citizens who invested their personal savings into renewable energy to bridge the gap left by the government are now being unfairly penalized for their independence.
The military veteran-turned-politician highlighted the disconnect between the government’s service delivery and its revenue drive. He suggested that the administration is "squeezing the people dry" while they grapple with an escalating cost of living and a general decline in public infrastructure.
“This is not governance; this is extortion dressed up as regulation,” he remarked. “Instead of fixing the power crisis, you have chosen to profit from it. No serious government penalizes innovation, self-reliance, and resilience.”
As the outcry against the solar tax grows within Lagos housing estates, Akogun-Abudu issued a firm demand for the policy's total reversal. He challenged the moral authority of the state to tax a service it has failed to provide.
“If you cannot provide electricity, you have no moral justification to tax those who provide it for themselves. This policy must be scrapped completely and immediately.”
He concluded with a stern warning to the Sanwo-Olu administration, noting that the political implications of such "revenue extraction" would be felt at the polls: “Lagosians are watching. And they will remember."