2027: ADC-PCC challenges Tinubu to defend failure to deliver electricity

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) has challenged President Bola Tinubu to account for his failure to deliver on his 2023 electricity pledge, insisting that he should not seek re-election without fulfilling the promise.

The council said Nigerians had not forgotten Tinubu’s categorical declaration during the 2023 presidential campaign that they should not vote for him for a second term if he failed to deliver electricity, dismissing attempts by the APC to reinterpret his words as an afterthought.

In a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, the ADC-PCC was reacting to comments by Dele Alake, spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, defending the President’s electricity record.

“Don’t vote for me for second term if I fail to deliver electricity,” the President had told Nigerians during the 2023 campaign.

The opposition campaign council argued that more than three years after the pledge, Nigerians were still grappling with persistent power outages, repeated national grid collapses and inadequate electricity supply.

It accused the Tinubu administration of increasing the financial burden on consumers through higher electricity bills, discriminatory tariff classifications and continued estimated billing, despite the much-publicised Presidential Metering Initiative.

The council also said businesses, including hotels and other hospitality facilities, had resorted to rationing electricity by switching off power for guests during daytime hours to reduce operating costs.

Dismissing the administration’s reliance on the Electricity Act and bond programmes to defend its record, the ADC-PCC insisted that policy documents and financial instruments could not substitute for actual electricity supply.

“An Act is not electricity. A bond prospectus does not power homes and factories. Nigerians cannot eat statutes. What Nigerians need is electricity that works, not another round of explanations and publicity,” the council said.

It further accused the administration of imposing higher tariffs without ensuring reliable supply, leaving households, manufacturers and small businesses to contend with rising operating costs.

The ADC-PCC also questioned the implementation of the Presidential Metering Initiative, alleging that electricity distribution companies continued to impose estimated bills on consumers.

“The President’s own condition for seeking a second term was straightforward: deliver electricity or do not ask Nigerians for another mandate,” the council maintained.

It urged the APC to address the President’s 2023 commitment directly, rather than attempt to dilute his words, warning that the administration’s electricity record would be a major issue as Nigerians prepare to decide whether to renew Tinubu’s mandate in the January 16, 2027 election.