Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Wednesday revisited national debate over Nigeria’s worsening power crisis, invoking President Bola Tinubu’s 2022 campaign promise that he should not be re-elected if he failed to deliver steady electricity within his first four years in office.

In a strongly worded statement, Obi on his verified ‘X’ handle on Wednesday noted that the national grid has already collapsed twice in January 2026 alone, even before the month ended.

He added that the grid reportedly collapsed about 12 times in 2025.

He described the situation as a sharp contradiction of the President’s widely publicised pledge and a worrying signal for the country’s future.

Obi also took aim at President Tinubu’s frequent foreign trips, particularly his recent visit to Turkey.

Drawing a stark comparison, he noted that Turkey, with a population of about 87 million roughly one-third of Nigeria’s population generates and distributes over 120,000 megawatts of electricity, while Nigeria continues to struggle with less than five percent of that capacity.

“The contrast is striking and painful,” Obi said, arguing that Nigeria’s challenges require urgent, hands-on leadership rather than constant foreign engagements.

He warned that at the current pace, Nigerians might soon be hearing of official trips to far-flung countries such as Palau or Vanuatu while critical domestic issues remain unresolved.

Beyond power supply, Obi criticised what he described as Nigeria’s growing obsession with electoral politics at the expense of governance.

To him, national attention is already drifting toward the next election, rather than confronting the failures of leadership and demanding accountability.

He, therefore, called on Nigerians to unite in demanding responsible governance, stressing that persistent electricity failures, economic hardship, and declining quality of life amount to an ongoing indignity for citizens.

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