Makinde challenges Tinubu to account for election promise to fix Nigeria’s electricity

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, who is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), has challenged President Bola Tinubu to account for his campaign promise on electricity as he seeks another term in office.

Mr Makinde said Mr Tinubu should not be seeking a second term if Nigeria’s electricity problem remains unresolved, recalling a pledge the President made during his 2023 presidential campaign.

“He (Mr Tinubu) said if electricity is not fixed, we should not vote for him for a second term,” Mr Makinde said.

The governor spoke on Monday at the Boye Nation/JAF Movement Mega Concert at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan, where he also defended his administration’s use of diesel-powered generators to power some streetlights.

Mr Makinde said the decision to use generators was necessitated by the unreliable supply from the national grid.

He argued that a more stable national electricity supply would have eliminated the need for state governments to spend money on diesel to keep public infrastructure operating.

“If he had fixed the electricity problem, we wouldn’t be buying diesel for our generators or power streetlights,” he stated.

His criticism was directed at Mr Tinubu’s handling of the electricity sector and the President’s earlier campaign commitment to improve power supply.

While PREMIUM TIMES confirmed that Mr Tinubu made a campaign pledge to improve electricity supply in Nigeria, his statement has been subject to differing interpretations, particularly over whether he categorically said Nigerians should not re-elect him if the power problem was not resolved.

Mr Makinde and Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), have interpreted the statement as a commitment by Mr Tinubu not to seek a second term if he failed to provide stable electricity in the country.

However, in June, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, disputed that interpretation. Mr Onanuga said the president’s remark was conditional, arguing that critics had omitted his qualification that he should not be denied a second term if he could provide “adequate reasons” for failing to deliver on the promise.

The presidency has also published the fuller version of the 2023 campaign statement.

Meanwhile, the federal government has maintained that the Tinubu administration is addressing longstanding problems in the electricity sector.

In July, the Ministry of Power announced plans for fresh investment to stabilise the national grid, describing grid stability as a priority for improving electricity supply.

The ministry has also highlighted ongoing interventions in generation, transmission and distribution, while the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission said the country had recorded its highest generation levels amid reforms in the sector.

But for Mr Makinde, the continuing dependence of states, businesses and households on alternative sources of electricity provided that the problem remains unresolved. He said the President should be judged against the standard he set for himself during the 2023 campaign.

Mr Makinde is among several opposition figures positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with the electricity crisis increasingly featuring in criticism of the Tinubu administration. (Premium Times)