APC, Atiku clash over Tinubu’s power reforms

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar have disagreed over President Bola Tinubu’s record in the power sector.

The ruling party insisted that his campaign promise of stable electricity remained on course, while the ADC presidential candidate said Nigerians were yet to see tangible results.

The disagreement comes as persistent power outages continue to affect households and businesses, more than three years after Tinubu promised during the 2023 presidential campaign to ensure stable electricity supply.

The APC campaign council, in a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesperson and Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, urged Nigerians to assess Tinubu’s electricity pledge in full context, including his promise to explain any failure to deliver before seeking re-election.

During the build-up to the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu had asked Nigerians not to re-elect him if he failed to fulfil the pledge without providing satisfactory reasons for his inability to do so.

More than three years after assuming office, electricity supply remains unstable in many parts of the country.

Consequently, opposition figures, including Atiku, the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi and the Allied People’s Movement presidential candidate and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, among others, have seized on the persistent power crisis to criticise Tinubu’s administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Reacting, the APC PCC said Tinubu had taken deliberate steps to address longstanding challenges in the power sector, urging Nigerians to consider his pledge to explain any failure to deliver before seeking re-election.

Alake said Tinubu had identified estimated billing as a major challenge facing households and businesses and pledged to address it alongside other problems in the power sector to ensure stable and reliable electricity supply.

He stated, “His exact words at the event were: ‘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.’

“Some recent public commentary has reproduced the campaign pledge without its concluding qualification: that should he fall short, he would owe Nigerians an adequate explanation before seeking their support for a second term.

“A fair assessment of the pledge should consider the full statement alongside the administration’s record since 2023. This record should be assessed against measurable improvements in electricity 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, and his commitment to face the challenges head-on has never diminished.”

The council said, “Within two weeks in office, President Tinubu signed the Electricity Act, 2023, on June 9. With the new Electricity Act, President Tinubu effectively liberalised and deregulated the power sector, moving it away from the Exclusive List so that states, as subnational, can participate in power generation, distribution and transmission.

“Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Kaduna and Niger have started taking advantage of the law to maximise its benefits by setting up their own electricity regulatory agencies and driving private capital into their states.”

The APC PCC said the Tinubu administration had taken responsibility for over N6tn in legacy debts accumulated between 2015 and 2025, while launching the Presidential Metering Initiative to address the country’s metering gap of more than seven million customers.

It added that the government had adjusted electricity tariffs towards cost-reflective rates to improve market liquidity while introducing measures to protect low-income consumers.

The council disclosed that over 1.5 million customers had been metered under the initiative in the last three years.

It also said the Rural Electrification Agency had connected universities, hospitals and rural communities to solar power, while plans were underway to modernise the over 60-year-old Osogbo Grid Control Centre and construct an East-West super grid.

Alake said the administration established a N4tn bond programme to settle verified legacy debts owed to 21 power-generating companies and gas companies.

The statement read, “The first and second tranches of the bond programme have raised over N1.2 trillion to settle part of the N4 trillion verified legacy debt.

“President Tinubu has repositioned the power sector and reduced market risk for future investment. The impact of this intervention is becoming evident in Gencos’ ability to make new investments to upgrade power plants.

“Just a few days ago, Geregu Power Plc announced investments in new power transformers to enhance operations at the Geregu 1 Power Plant. Other firms are making similar investments.

President Tinubu inherited many power-sector initiatives, including the Presidential Power Initiative, which his predecessor, the late President Muhammadu Buhari, started.

“Upon assuming office, President Tinubu reviewed the existing agreement and signed an Acceleration Agreement in December 2023 to enable the FGN’s PPI and the German partners to move quickly to execute projects in the transmission network grid.

“By December 2024, the FEC approved the contract for the first batch of five TCN substations in key load centres to be upgraded to enhance electricity supply to industrial and private consumers in the areas. These projects are now being completed and will be commissioned before the end of the administration’s first term.”

It added that in June 2026, the Federal Executive Council approved the contract for the second batch of projects to build eight new substations and upgrade four existing ones in targeted load centres.

It added that power project implementation required equipment that is a long-lead item and, thus, cannot be achieved overnight.

The campaign council maintained that efforts to reform the power sector were ongoing, adding that Tinubu would present his administration’s achievements and outstanding challenges in the sector to Nigerians as he seeks re-election in 2027.

Atiku, however, challenged Tinubu to account for his 2022 campaign promise, adding that Nigerians had endured persistent electricity shortages despite the promises made by the President during the 2023 presidential campaign.

He also faulted the administration’s handling of electricity tariffs, estimated billing and the proposed removal of electricity subsidies, warning that households and businesses were being made to bear the burden of an unreliable power supply.

In a statement issued on Sunday by the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the Federal Government could not use legislation, committees, bond programmes and project approvals to avoid accountability for its performance in the electricity sector.

Atiku argued that Nigerians had now lived through the period covered by Tinubu’s tenure and deserved an explanation for the continued poor state of electricity supply.

“Nigerians have lived through those four years. They do not need his campaign council to interpret his words for them. They need him to answer for them,” he said.

He particularly criticised the government’s reliance on a multitrillion-naira bond programme to settle legacy debts owed to power generation companies, insisting that clearing outstanding obligations was not the same as expanding the country’s electricity generation capacity.

“Paying old debts is not the same as building new power infrastructure. Bonds cannot be presented as a substitute for power in people’s homes,” Atiku said.

He further alleged that the Tinubu administration had not built any new generation infrastructure of its own to increase the country’s electricity capacity.

The ADC presidential candidate also questioned the disparity between electricity tariffs and the quality of service received by consumers under the existing band classification system.

According to him, Nigerians continue to pay for electricity despite unreliable supply, with households and businesses struggling to cope with the additional cost of alternative power sources.

He cited Band A customers, who he said pay about N209.50 per kilowatt-hour before Value Added Tax, noting that consumers on other bands also faced varying rates depending on their locations and electricity distribution companies.

“Across every band, the same hardship endures: the power fails, but the bill arrives,” he added.

Atiku consequently promised to work with state governments and regulators, if elected, to abolish the existing electricity band system and introduce what he described as a fairer, transparent and affordable tariff framework.

He said such a framework would protect households while ensuring that electricity distribution companies were held accountable for the quality of service delivered to consumers.

The former vice president also raised concerns over the Federal Government’s plan to end electricity subsidies from 2027, despite assurances that there would be no immediate increase in tariffs.

He questioned what the proposed subsidy removal would mean for electricity consumers, demanding clarity on the implications for household and business electricity bills.

“Nigerians are entitled to a clear answer: what will happen to their bills when the subsidy ends?” he asked.

The ADC chieftain also expressed concern over the possible introduction of an additional energy-related tax burden, drawing attention to the five per cent surcharge provided under the Nigeria Tax Act on certain fossil fuels, including petrol and diesel.

Nigeria’s electricity sector has continued to grapple with inadequate generation, transmission constraints, distribution challenges, gas supply problems and mounting financial obligations across the power value chain.

The sector underwent a major reform following the enactment of the Electricity Act 2023, which provided a framework for decentralising electricity regulation and allowing states to establish and regulate electricity markets within their jurisdictions.

The reforms also came amid repeated tariff adjustments, particularly for Band A customers, under the Federal Government’s efforts to reduce electricity subsidies and improve the financial viability of the power sector.

However, concerns over unreliable supply, metering gaps and the cost of electricity have remained major issues for households and businesses.