Former Governor of Anambra State presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Wednesday revisited national debate over Nigeria’s worsening power crisis, invoking President Bola Tinubu’s 2022 campaign promise that he should not be re-elected if he failed to deliver steady electricity within his first four years in office.
In a strongly worded statement on his verified ‘X’ handle on Wednesday – earlier today, January 28 – Obi lamented the incessant collapse of the national grid under President Tinubu’s watch, agonizing that the grip has already collapsed twice in January 2026 alone, while the month is yet to end, even as the grid reportedly collapsed about 12 times in 2025.
Describing the situation as a sharp contradiction of the President’s widely publicised pledge and a worrying signal for the country’s future, Obi again descended on Tinubu over his frequent foreign trips, particularly his recent visit to Turkey.
Drawing a stark comparison, he noted 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.
Beyond power supply, Obi criticised 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, stressing that persistent electricity failures, economic hardship, and declining quality of life amount make life very unpalatable for citizens.
