Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his campaign pledge on electricity supply following the second collapse of the national power grid in January.
In a statement shared on his verified X account on Wednesday and titled “No Steady Power in Four Years, No Second Term,” Obi revisited Tinubu’s 2022 campaign assurance on stable power, arguing that the repeated grid failures underscored the deep-rooted instability in Nigeria’s electricity sector and contradicted pre-election promises.
“President Bola Tinubu’s campaign promise in 2022 was clear: ‘If I do not provide steady electricity in my first four years, do not vote for me for a second term,’” Obi stated. He noted that despite the commitment, the national grid had already collapsed twice in January 2026, even before the month ended.
“Yet, in January 2026 alone, the national grid has already collapsed twice, and the month is not even over,” Obi said, recalling that the grid reportedly collapsed about twelve times in the previous year. He maintained that the recurring failures should deeply trouble Nigerians, as they run counter to the assurances given by the current administration.
“This reality sharply contradicts the promise and should worry every patriotic Nigerian,” he said. The former Anambra State governor also took a swipe at Tinubu’s frequent foreign trips, observing that the president was in Turkey while pressing domestic challenges remained unresolved.
“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,” Obi stated. He compared Nigeria’s power output with Turkey’s, highlighting a significant gap in electricity generation.
“Yet Turkey generates and distributes over 120,000 megawatts of electricity, while Nigeria struggles with less than five per cent of that capacity. The contrast is both striking and painful,” he added. Obi urged the president to prioritise addressing Nigeria’s internal issues instead of engaging in continuous foreign travel.
“Our appeal is simple: stay at home and confront the nation’s problems,” he said, warning that if the situation persists, Nigerians might “soon hear of trips to Palau or Vanuatu while critical issues remain unattended at home.” He further criticised what he described as a growing obsession with the 2027 general elections at the expense of governance.
“And yet, our collective preoccupation seems to be the next election, rather than how to secure good governance,” Obi stated. He called on citizens to collectively demand accountability and responsible leadership, stressing that urgent action is needed to alleviate the hardship Nigerians face.
“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.
What you should know
Peter Obi’s comments come amid renewed concerns over Nigeria’s fragile power infrastructure following multiple grid collapses in January 2026.
By referencing President Tinubu’s 2022 campaign pledge on electricity, Obi is framing the power crisis as a test of political accountability. His remarks also reflect broader public frustration with recurring outages, low generation capacity, and governance priorities.
The comparison with Turkey’s electricity output underscores Nigeria’s longstanding energy deficit, while his criticism of foreign trips and election-focused politics highlights growing calls for leaders to concentrate on domestic challenges affecting daily life.
