Obi: I won’t promise Nigerians 24-hour electricity in four years — it’s impossible
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), says he will not promise Nigerians uninterrupted electricity within four years if elected president.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Sunday night, Obi said while improving electricity supply would be a priority of his administration, it would be unrealistic to assure Nigerians of nationwide 24-hour power within four years.
“I will not tell them I’m going to give them reliable, stable, 24-hour electricity within four years,” Obi said.
“It is impossible because if you want to build a power plant, it will take you about four years to build a power plant.
If you want to build and improve our transmission line, it will take you a number of years.”
Obi said his administration would instead focus on significantly improving electricity generation, transmission and distribution to make power supply more reliable across the country.
He pledged to ensure that Nigeria is able to generate, transmit and distribute at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity consistently, noting that the country’s current challenge lies more with transmitting and distributing available power than generating it.
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.
“I said we will be able to generate more than 10,000, transmit and distribute that.”
The former Anambra governor said his administration would pursue embedded power projects by replicating successful decentralised electricity models already operating in parts of the country.
He cited the operations of Geometric Power in Aba as an example that could be expanded to industrial hubs in other states to stimulate economic activity.
We will do it through embedded power. Look at what Geometric Power is doing in Aba—we need to replicate that in locations like Kano to drive the industries in Bompai and Sharada,” he said.
Obi also said restoring confidence in the electricity sector would require the federal government to settle outstanding debts owed to electricity generation companies, which he said had discouraged investment.
“Today, the government owes generating companies trillions of naira. We must pay them,” he said.
“Our politics must change; if I don’t deliver what I promise, I will come out and explain to the people what is going wrong.
He noted that his administration would prioritise realistic commitments and transparent governance rather than making promises that could not be fulfilled within a single presidential term.