Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal Government over persistent power outages, accusing the administration of failing to deliver on its campaign promise of steady electricity supply.
In a post on his official X handle on Tuesday, Obi recalled President Bola Tinubu’s December 2022 campaign remark: “If I don’t give you constant electricity in the next four years, don’t vote for me for second term.” He said the country has since witnessed more national grid failures and blackouts under the current administration than at any other time in Nigeria’s history.
Obi faulted the billions of dollars spent on the power sector, noting that Nigeria has invested more than countries such as Vietnam, Egypt, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, yet has only moved marginally from 4,500MW to 5,000MW of generation capacity. By contrast, he said, those countries have doubled output and transformed their economies.
He stressed that Nigeria’s GDP, currently about $200 billion, could grow by 50 percent if the nation generated at least 10,000MW of electricity. Improved power, he added, would drive industrial growth, create millions of jobs, and strengthen small businesses.
Obi further criticised government priorities, arguing that resources were being channelled into less impactful projects such as coastal roads while factories close and businesses struggle in darkness. He urged the administration to focus on power generation and distribution as a catalyst for economic recovery.
Reaffirming his optimism, Obi concluded: “A New Nigeria is Possible.”
