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The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has urged Nigerians not to vote for President Bola Tinubu in the next election, invoking the president’s own campaign promise 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, recalled that Tinubu had made the pledge 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 that Nigerians should hold him to his word.
Describing the current situation as “a glaring display of disregard for promises and a lack of trust,” Obi said power generation had declined 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 risen considerably.
He also cited data placing Nigeria’s per capita electricity consumption at 144 kilowatt-hours, against 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 anchored 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 absence 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, framing the remark as proof of a leadership class detached from the hardship it had imposed on citizens.
He called on Nigerians to use future elections to demand better governance, arguing that the electricity crisis was symptomatic of 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.
