Peter Obi reminds Nigerians of Tinubu electricity promise amid repeated grid failures, urging urgent action to power businesses and boost economic growth.
As Nigeria steadily approaches the 2027 general elections, former presidential candidate Peter Obi has renewed attention on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign pledge concerning electricity supply.
Obi reminded Nigerians of the Tinubu electricity promise, a commitment in which the president vowed not to seek re-election if he failed to provide steady power within his first four years in office.
The reminder came through Obi’s official X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday, September 10, shortly after another nationwide blackout followed the collapse of the national grid.
The former Anambra State governor described the development as part of a troubling pattern, claiming that the current administration under the All Progressives Congress (APC) has presided over more grid failures than any government in Nigeria’s history.
Obi drew directly from Tinubu’s own words during a campaign stop on December 22, 2022.
At that time, Tinubu declared: “If I don’t give you constant electricity in the next four years, don’t vote for me for a second term.”
According to Obi, this Tinubu electricity promise offered Nigerians one of the most crucial assurances in a country already struggling with inadequate access to power.
He pointed out that Nigeria is ranked as the nation with the largest population of people living without reliable electricity.
For such a country, Obi argued, no political statement could have carried more weight than the commitment to deliver constant power.
Despite billions of dollars invested in the energy sector over the years, Obi lamented that the nation has witnessed little to no improvement.
He noted that Nigeria has spent more on power generation projects than several developing countries—including Vietnam, Egypt, Indonesia, and Bangladesh—yet the results have been starkly different.
While those nations have doubled or even tripled their generation capacity, adding tens of thousands of megawatts to drive industrial growth and raise their GDP, Nigeria has inched forward only slightly, from about 4,500MW to a little over 5,000MW.
For Obi, this stagnation is not just a technical failure but a lost economic opportunity.
With a gross domestic product of approximately $200 billion, Obi argued, Nigeria has the potential to increase its output significantly if it invests wisely in electricity generation and distribution.
He highlighted studies showing that raising power capacity to just 10,000MW could boost GDP by up to 50 percent.
Such growth, he maintained, would trigger industrialisation, attract investment, and create millions of jobs for citizens.
Obi criticized what he described as misplaced priorities by the government.
Instead of focusing on solving the electricity deficit that cripples businesses and households, he said, resources are being diverted to projects like coastal highways, which, though important, cannot substitute for the transformative impact of reliable electricity.
“Factories are shutting down, jobs are disappearing, and small businesses are collapsing, all because of inadequate power supply,” Obi said.
“Ordinary Nigerians remain in darkness while the government channels attention to projects with far less direct economic value.”
He emphasised that the survival and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—the backbone of Nigeria’s economy—depend heavily on affordable and steady electricity.
Without power, he explained, operating costs rise, productivity drops, and competitiveness in global markets weakens.
Beyond the immediate economic implications, Obi warned that persistent power shortages deepen poverty and undermine confidence in governance.
For him, addressing the Nigeria power crisis is not just an economic necessity but also a political test of credibility.
Political observers note that Obi’s intervention comes less than two years before the next general elections, making his comments both a policy critique and a subtle reminder of electoral accountability.
The Tinubu electricity promise, first made in 2022, has now resurfaced as a benchmark by which many Nigerians may judge the administration’s performance as 2027 approaches.