Ayomide Awe
The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has said he cannot promise Nigerians uninterrupted electricity within a single four-year term, describing such a pledge as unrealistic.
Obi, who has repeatedly pledged to serve only one four-year tenure if elected president, said fixing Nigeria’s decades-long electricity crisis could not be achieved within that period.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Sunday, the former Anambra State governor said no responsible leader should make promises that cannot be fulfilled.
“I will not tell Nigerians that I am going to give them reliable, stable, 24-hour electricity within four years because it is impossible,” Obi said.
He explained that building critical power infrastructure requires several years, noting that constructing a new power plant alone could take about four years, while expanding and modernising the country’s transmission network would require even more time.
“If you want to build a power plant, it will take you about four years. If you want to build and improve our transmission lines, it will take a number of years,” he added.
Despite his position, Obi expressed confidence that his administration would significantly improve electricity generation and transmission if elected.
According to him, Nigeria already generates over 10,000 megawatts of electricity but lacks the transmission capacity to distribute the available power efficiently across the country.
“We will be able to generate more than 10,000 megawatts. We are doing that today—we are generating more than 10,000—but we are not able to transmit that,” he said.
Nigeria’s electricity sector has remained one of the country’s biggest developmental challenges, with successive administrations struggling to improve generation, transmission and distribution despite years of reforms and huge investments.
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