Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
The former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi has criticised President Bola Tinubu for his inability to deliver on his campaign promise of making power available to Nigerians.
Recall that in a 2023 campaign address, Tinubu said: “If I don’t keep this promise [to provide electricity] and I come back for a second term, don’t vote for me”.
The statement was part of his “Renewed Hope Agenda” aimed at revitalizing the power sector, which he promised to fix by ending erratic electricity supply and removing estimated billing.
The former Anambra State governor on his verified ‘X’ handle, said that the national grid has already collapsed twice in January 2026 alone, even before the month ended.
He pointed out that the grid reportedly collapsed about 12 times in 2025.
Obi painted the situation as a sharp contradiction of the President’s widely publicised pledge and a worrying signal for the country’s future.
Obi also faulted President Tinubu’s regular foreign trips, particularly his recent visit to Turkey.
While comparing the two countries, he said that Turkey, with a population of about 87 million roughly one-third of Nigeria’s population generates and distributes over 120,000 megawatts of electricity, while Nigeria continues to struggle with less than five percent of that capacity.
“The contrast is striking and painful,” Obi said, arguing that Nigeria’s challenges require urgent, hands-on leadership rather than constant foreign engagements.
He warned that at the current pace, Nigerians might soon be hearing of official trips to far-flung countries such as Palau or Vanuatu while critical domestic issues remain unresolved.
He also decried what he described as Nigeria’s growing obsession with electoral politics at the expense of governance.
To him, national attention is already drifting toward the next election, rather than confronting the failures of leadership and demanding accountability.
He, therefore, called on Nigerians to unite in demanding responsible governance, pointing out that persistent electricity failures, economic hardship, and declining quality of life amount to an ongoing indignity for citizens.
