The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council says recent commentary on President Bola Tinubu’s electricity campaign pledge has deliberately left out a key qualification contained in the original statement.
In a press statement issued on Saturday by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, the Council said Tinubu’s promise on stable electricity and an end to estimated billing must be considered in full context.
At a meeting with members of the Organised Private Sector in Lagos ahead of the 2023 general elections, then APC candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had said: “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.”
The Campaign Council noted that some public commentary has reproduced the pledge without its concluding qualification – that should he fall short, he would owe Nigerians an adequate explanation before seeking 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,” the statement said.
The Council said while fixing the power sector crisis remains unfinished, President Tinubu has worked consistently to deliver on his promise.
It listed key interventions, including the signing of the Electricity Act, 2023 within two weeks of assuming office on June 9, which liberalised the sector and moved it from the Exclusive List to allow states to participate in generation, distribution and transmission. It said Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Kaduna and Niger states have already taken advantage of the law by setting up their own electricity regulatory agencies.
The statement also said the President took on over N6 trillion in legacy debts accumulated from 2015 to 2025, launched the Presidential Metering Initiative to close the over 7 million metering gap, aligned tariffs to cost to restore liquidity, and created a system to protect low-income households while investing in substations and grid expansion.
According to the Council, over 1.5 million customers have been metered in the last three years under the initiative, while the Rural Electrification Agency has connected universities, hospitals and rural communities to solar power. It added that government has unveiled plans to modernise the 60-year-old Osogbo Grid Control Centre and build an East-West super grid.
It disclosed that the administration created a N4 trillion bond programme to settle verified legacy debts owed to 21 power generating companies and gas companies, with the first and second tranches raising over N1.2 trillion.
The Council said the President also accelerated the Presidential Power Initiative started by late President Muhammadu Buhari, signing an Acceleration Agreement in December 2023 with German partners, with the Federal Executive Council approving contracts for the first batch of five TCN substations in December 2024, and a second batch of eight new substations and upgrade of four existing ones in June 2026.
“Fixing the electricity market and power sector is ongoing work. President Tinubu has not deviated an inch from his commitment. As he seeks Nigerians’ mandate for a second term in office, he will proudly present his scorecard in the power sector and clearly tell Nigerians what remains to be done,” Alake said.
