Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, has berated President Bola Tinubu’s electricity promise, citing the national grid’s second collapse in January.
In a statement posted on his official X handle on Wednesday, Obi referenced Tinubu’s 2022 campaign pledge: “No Steady Power in Four Years, No Second Term,” warning that the continued instability of Nigeria’s power sector contradicted that promise.
The grid collapsed twice in Jan 2026 and 12 times in 2025, contradicting Tinubu’s assurance.
“Yet, in January 2026 alone, the national grid has already collapsed twice, and the month is not even over,” Obi said, adding that “last year, it collapsed about twelve times.”
According to him, the repeated grid failures should be a serious concern for Nigerians, as they represent a sharp contradiction of the administration’s assurances.
“This reality sharply contradicts the promise and should worry every patriotic Nigerian,” he said.
Obi also criticised the president’s frequent foreign travels, noting that Tinubu was currently in Turkey while critical domestic challenges persisted.
“At the same time, the President is on another foreign trip, this time to Turkey, a country of about 87 million people — roughly a third of Nigeria’s population,” he said.
While drawing a comparison between both countries, Obi highlighted the disparity in electricity generation capacity.
“Turkey generates and distributes over 120,000 megawatts of electricity, while Nigeria struggles with less than five per cent of that capacity,” he said, describing the contrast as “both striking and painful.”
The former governor urged the president to focus on addressing Nigeria’s internal challenges rather than travelling abroad.
“Our appeal is simple: stay at home and confront the nation’s problems,” Obi said, warning that at the current rate, Nigerians might “soon hear of trips to Palau or Vanuatu while critical issues remain unattended at home.”
He further criticised what he described as an excessive focus on the 2027 elections rather than on governance.
“And yet, our collective preoccupation seems to be the next election, rather than how to secure good governance,” Obi said.
He called on Nigerians to demand accountability and responsible leadership, stressing the need to address the hardship caused by poor governance.
“We should be joining hands to demand accountability and responsible leadership, and to save Nigerians from the indignity and suffering caused by persistent bad governance,” Obi added.
