Persistent electrical energy failures: Don’t anticipate second time period, Obi tells Tinubu
Former presidential candidate of the Labour Get together, Peter Obi, on Wednesday revisited nationwide debate over Nigeria’s worsening energy disaster, invoking President Bola Tinubu’s 2022 marketing campaign promise that he shouldn’t be re-elected if he didn’t ship regular electrical energy inside his first 4 years in workplace.
In a strongly worded assertion, Obi on his verified ‘X’ deal with on Wednesday famous that the nationwide grid has already collapsed twice in January 2026 alone, even earlier than the month ended.
He added that the grid reportedly collapsed about 12 occasions in 2025.
He described the state of affairs as a pointy contradiction of the President’s broadly publicised pledge and a worrying sign for the nation’s future.
Obi additionally took intention at President Tinubu’s frequent overseas journeys, significantly his latest go to to Turkey.
Drawing a stark comparability, he famous that Turkey, with a inhabitants of about 87 million roughly one-third of Nigeria’s inhabitants generates and distributes over 120,000 megawatts of electrical energy, whereas Nigeria continues to battle with lower than 5 p.c of that capability.
“The distinction is hanging and painful,” Obi stated, arguing that Nigeria’s challenges require pressing, hands-on management quite than fixed overseas engagements.
He warned that on the present tempo, Nigerians would possibly quickly be listening to of official journeys to far-flung nations resembling Palau or Vanuatu whereas important home points stay unresolved.
Past energy provide, Obi criticised what he described as Nigeria’s rising obsession with electoral politics on the expense of governance.
To him, nationwide consideration is already drifting towards the following election, quite than confronting the failures of management and demanding accountability.
He, due to this fact, referred to as on Nigerians to unite in demanding accountable governance, stressing that persistent electrical energy failures, {economic} hardship, and declining high quality of life quantity to an ongoing indignity for residents.
Reacting, a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri defended President Tinubu over the reccuring energy problem, saying it’s not restricted to Nigeria.
In a publish he made on Wednesday, Omokri stated, “The US has suffered a number of main energy grid failures, leading to widespread outages, together with a blackout that left 55 million folks with out electrical energy. As you learn this, the US is experiencing blackouts throughout a number of states as its energy grid nears collapse.
These items occur in each nation on Earth. It isn’t restricted to Nigeria, and it’s a pity that Peter Obi, who final 12 months lied that Tanzania had solved its energy downside and requested Nigeria to study from that nation, is as much as his previous tips by de-marketing Nigeria over the latest energy grid collapse.”
He questioned, “If Peter Obi had all of the solutions, why did he not construct a single Impartial Energy Venture in Anambra whereas he was Governor for eight years, like President Tinubu did in Lagos?
Nigeria is making progress within the energy sector, and we don’t must be put down by a person who spent eight years as Anambra Governor with out constructing a single nursery, main, secondary, or college college.”
He stated that, “Underneath Tinubu, Nigeria broke its energy technology report with a peak technology of 5,801.84MW and most each day power output of 128,370.75 megawatt-hours (MWh), the best ever attained within the historical past of the electrical energy business in Nigeria.”
“Peter Obi is suggested to get a life as a substitute of sitting round ready for dangerous information to occur and amplifying it.
Mr Obi ought to restrict his divisive nature to the African Democratic Congress, whose spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi, not too long ago complained about his polarising affect on that beforehand secure social gathering, which received destabilised the minute Obi joined them and disjoined their cohesiveness.”