Tinubu’s 2023 electricity promise quoted out of context, says APC campaign council

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council says the electricity pledge made by President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2023 elections was quoted out of context.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Dele Alake, spokesperson of the campaign council, said Tinubu made the pledge during a meeting with the organised private sector (OPS) in Lagos ahead of the election.

Alake said Tinubu, who was then the APC presidential candidate, spoke about how he would tackle the systemic and institutional problems that had bedevilled Nigeria’s power sector for more than five decades.

He said Tinubu specifically identified estimated billing as a major burden on households and businesses.

According to him, Tinubu promised to address the problem, alongside other challenges in the power sector, to ensure Nigerians have a stable and reliable electricity supply.

Alake quoted the president as saying: “Whichever way, by all means necessary, you will have electricity, and you will not pay for estimated bills anymore. A promise made will be a promise kept.

“If I don’t keep the promise and I come for a second term, don’t vote for me, unless I give you adequate reasons why I couldn’t deliver.”

He, however, said some recent public commentaries had reproduced the campaign promise without its concluding qualification that Tinubu would owe Nigerians an adequate explanation if he failed to deliver before seeking re-election.

The APC campaign council spokesperson argued that a fair assessment of the promise should consider the full statement alongside the administration’s record since 2023.

He said the record should be assessed against measurable improvements in electricity supply, metering, infrastructure and market stability.

Alake acknowledged that resolving the power sector crisis remained a work in progress but said the president was working consistently to fulfil his promise to Nigerians.

Listing some of the administration’s interventions in the power sector, Alake said Tinubu signed the Electricity Act, 2023, on June 9, less than two weeks after assuming office, liberalising and deregulating the sector.

He said several states, including Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Kaduna and Niger, had taken advantage of the law to establish their own electricity regulatory agencies and attract private investment.

“President Tinubu took on the over N6 trillion legacy debt that had accumulated from 2015 to 2025. He started a Presidential Metering Initiative to close the over 7 million metering gap,” he said.

“In the last three years, over 1.5 million customers have been metered under the Presidential Metering Initiative.”

Alake said the government had also unveiled plans to modernise the Osogbo Grid Control Centre, which was built over 60 years ago, and construct an east-west super grid.

He said the administration established a N4 trillion bond programme to settle verified legacy debts owed to 21 power generating companies (Gencos) and gas companies (Gascos).

According to him, the first and second tranches of the programme had raised over N1.2 trillion to settle part of the verified debt.

Alake maintained that Tinubu had repositioned the power sector and reduced market risks for future investment, adding that the impact was becoming evident in Gencos’ investments to upgrade their power plants.

He said the president had not deviated from his commitment and would present his scorecard in the power sector as he seeks a second term, explaining to Nigerians what remained to be done.(TheCable)