Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has renewed criticism of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu following another collapse of Nigeria’s national power grid, the second recorded in January.
In a statement shared on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday and titled “No Steady Power in Four Years, No Second Term,” Obi recalled a key promise made by Tinubu during the 2022 presidential campaign, warning that developments in the power sector run contrary to that pledge.
“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 said.
He noted that despite the assurance, the national grid had already collapsed twice in January 2026, even before the month ended. “In January 2026 alone, the national grid has already collapsed twice, and the month is not even over,” he said, adding that the grid reportedly collapsed about 12 times in the previous year.
According to Obi, the repeated failures are deeply troubling and highlight a sharp contradiction between government promises and reality. “This reality sharply contradicts the promise and should worry every patriotic Nigerian,” he stated.
The former Anambra State governor also criticised the president’s frequent foreign trips, pointing out that Tinubu was currently in Turkey while major 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,” Obi said.
Comparing the two countries, Obi highlighted the wide gap in power 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 disparity as “both striking and painful.”
Obi urged the president to focus more on solving Nigeria’s internal problems rather than travelling abroad. “Our appeal is simple: stay at home and confront the nation’s problems,” he said, warning that Nigerians might soon hear of trips to distant countries “while critical issues remain unattended at home.”
He also criticised what he described as an excessive focus on the 2027 general elections instead of governance. “Our collective preoccupation seems to be the next election, rather than how to secure good governance,” Obi said.
Calling on Nigerians to demand better leadership, Obi stressed the need for accountability to ease the hardship faced by citizens. “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,” he added.
