ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has called on Nigerians not to vote for President Bola Tinubu in the next election, referencing the president’s own campaign pledge that he should be denied a second term if he failed to improve electricity supply within four years.
Obi, in a post on his X account on Saturday, reminded Nigerians that Tinubu had made the promise during the 2023 presidential campaign.
“If I don’t give you constant electricity in four years, don’t vote for me for a second term,” Obi quoted the president as saying.
The former Anambra governor argued that the condition Tinubu set for himself had been “met, in the negative,” and insisted that Nigerians should hold him accountable to his word.
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Describing the current situation as “a glaring display of disregard for promises and a lack of trust,” Obi said power generation had dropped from the over 4,000 megawatts recorded when Tinubu assumed office in 2023, with the average now falling below that figure, while electricity tariffs had increased significantly.
He also cited data showing Nigeria’s per capita electricity consumption at 144 kilowatt-hours, compared with an African average of 617 kWh.
“When he took office in 2023, Nigeria had a power supply of over 4,000 megawatts and lower tariffs. Today, the electricity power supply is less than 4,000 megawatts on the average, and Nigerians are paying higher tariffs.
“Nigeria currently has the lowest per capita electricity consumption in the world, with a rate below 30% of the African average.
Africa’s average is 617kwh, Nigeria’s is 144 kWh. This means that Nigerians consume least electricity than other Africans,” Obi said.
Obi based his argument on what he described as a revealing moment at Jos airport on Thursday, April 2, 2026, when Tinubu made a brief stopover to condole with families of victims of recent attacks in the city.
According to Obi, the president cited the lack of electricity at the airport as a reason for limiting his visit to ten minutes.
“You have no light here I fly out in ten minutes,” Obi quoted Tinubu as saying.
“At a time when Nigerians are enduring days without power, our leaders cannot even stay a few minutes without it,” Obi wrote, presenting the remark as evidence of “a leadership class detached from the hardship it had imposed on citizens.”
He urged Nigerians to use future elections to demand better governance, arguing that the electricity crisis reflects “a broader failure of character and capacity at the top.”
“Now is the time to stop incompetent leaders those lacking the capacity and compassion who prioritise their own comfort over the well-being of the people and make empty promises,” he said.