President Bola Tinubu remains committed to delivering more reliable electricity that will support accelerated economic growth and development, his presidential campaign council for the 2027 general election said on Sunday.
NewsQuest reports that the renewed promise comes as a drive back against opposition efforts to make a 2023 campaign pledge for the electricity sector a central issue ahead of next presidential election.
The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) said critics have quoted President Tinubu’s pledge selectively, omitting his caveat that he would owe voters an explanation if he failed to deliver before seeking a second term.
Spokesman of the PCC and Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake in a statement acknowledged that fixing Nigeria’s power sector remains unfinished.
During the 2023 campaign, President Tinubu told business leaders in Lagos that Nigerians would have electricity and would no longer pay estimated bills.
He added that voters should deny him a second term if he failed to keep the promise, unless he provided adequate reasons.
Opposition figures – including African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria Democratic Congress candidate Peter Obi and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde have seized on the shortfall to argue that voters should hold the president accountable in 2027.
Minister Alake said a fair evaluation should weigh both the full pledge and the administration’s record on supply, metering, infrastructure and market stability.
“While fixing the power sector crisis remains unfinished, the President is working consistently to deliver on his promise to Nigerians,” he said.
The campaign council pointed to the Electricity Act, which President Tinubu signed in June 2023, as a foundational reform.
The law moved electricity generation, distribution and transmission away from exclusive federal control, allowing states to establish regulators and attract private investment; Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Kaduna and Niger have begun doing so, according to the council.
Alake also cited efforts to address an estimated metering gap of more than seven million customers, saying more than 1.5 million customers have been metered under the Presidential Metering Initiative over the past three years.
He said the administration has adjusted tariffs toward cost-reflective levels to improve liquidity while maintaining service bands intended to shield lower-income consumers.
On financing, the council said the government has assumed responsibility for more than 6 trillion naira in legacy power-sector debts and created a 4 trillion naira bond program for verified obligations to 21 generation and gas companies. It said the first two tranches have raised more than 1.2 trillion naira.
Alake said the administration is also continuing the Presidential Power Initiative inherited from former President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr. Tinubu signed an acceleration agreement with German partners in December 2023, and the Federal Executive Council later approved upgrades to five transmission substations, with a second batch covering eight new substations and four upgrades approved in June 2026.
The council said long lead times for equipment mean such projects cannot be completed overnight. It added that the Rural Electrification Agency has connected universities, hospitals and rural communities to solar power, while plans are underway to modernize the Osogbo Grid Control Centre and build an East-West super grid.
Alake said President Tinubu would present both his achievements and the sector’s remaining challenges to voters as he seeks re-election in 2027.
“Fixing the electricity market and power sector is ongoing work,” the Minister said.
