APC, Atiku Differ Over Tinubu’s Electricity Promise

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have clashed over President Bola Tinubu’s 2023 campaign promise on electricity, with the ruling party insisting that the pledge must be judged in its full context, while Atiku maintains that the President has failed to deliver.

The exchange followed renewed public debate over Tinubu’s promise to end estimated billing and guarantee a stable power supply.

During a meeting with members of the Organised Private Sector in Lagos ahead of the 2023 general elections, 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.”

In a press statement on Sunday, the spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake, said some commentators had quoted the pledge without its concluding qualification — that Tinubu would give adequate reasons

if he failed to deliver before seeking a second term.

“A fair assessment of the President’s commitment must take into account both the full statement and the administration’s record since assuming office,” Alake said.

He maintained that although fixing the power sector crisis remained an unfinished task, the President was working consistently to deliver on his promise.

“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,” he said.

Alake listed the signing of the Electricity Act, 2023, on June 9 — barely two weeks after Tinubu assumed office — as a major intervention, noting that it opened up the market by allowing states to participate in electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

He named Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Kaduna and Niger among the states that had established their own electricity regulatory agencies and begun attracting private investment under the new framework.

The APC spokesman also cited the Presidential Metering Initiative, under which he said more than 1.5 million customers had been metered in the last three years, as well as the government’s N4 trillion bond programme to settle verified legacy debts owed to 21 generation and gas companies. He said more than N1.2 trillion had been raised in the first two tranches.

On transmission, Alake said the administration was implementing projects under the Presidential Power Initiative inherited from former President Muhammadu Buhari. These included Federal Executive Council approvals in December 2024 for five Transmission Company of Nigeria substations and, in June 2026, for eight new substations and the upgrade of four existing ones.

He also pointed to Rural Electrification Agency solar projects connecting universities, hospitals and rural communities, plans to modernise the Osogbo Grid Control Centre and build an East-West super grid, as well as the introduction of service bands to improve the financial viability of distribution companies while protecting low-income households.

Resolving the crisis, he said, required sustained investment, careful planning and time, particularly because major infrastructure projects involved equipment with long delivery timelines. Tinubu, he added, would present his scorecard to Nigerians as he seeks a second term in 2027 and explain what remained to be done.

But Atiku, in a statement issued on Sunday, November 1, 2026, by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council, dismissed the APC’s defence as paperwork that had not translated into electricity for homes and businesses.

“The APC should spare Nigerians the spectacle of celebrating paperwork while homes and businesses remain in darkness,” Atiku said.

He accused the ruling party of diverting attention from the persistent power supply crisis by highlighting laws, committees, bond programmes and ongoing projects instead of addressing consumers’ experiences. Households, he said, were still spending scarce resources on alternative power sources, while traders and small businesses were struggling amid rising energy costs.

Atiku criticised the Band A to E tariff structure, arguing that customers across the categories continued to experience unreliable supply despite paying varying rates. He noted that some Band A customers paid approximately ₦209.50 per kilowatt-hour before Value Added Tax (VAT) and said consumers should not pay more for electricity they could not reliably access.

He also questioned the Federal Government’s plan to discontinue electricity subsidies from 2027, demanding clarification on how the move would affect bills despite assurances that there would be no immediate tariff increase.

Atiku promised to work with state governments and regulators, within the provisions of the law, to abolish the band system and introduce what he described as a fairer, more transparent and affordable framework that would protect households and hold distribution companies accountable for the quality and quantity of electricity delivered.

Recalling Tinubu’s campaign promise, Atiku quoted a shorter version: “If I don’t give you constant electricity for four years, when I come back for a second term, don’t vote for me.”

He argued that Nigerians had now lived through that period and should judge the administration based on its performance. He further claimed that the Tinubu administration had not built any new generation infrastructure of its own to significantly increase capacity.

On the bond programme, Atiku said settling legacy debts was different from investing in new 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,” he said.

He also raised concerns over VAT on electricity and the proposed five per cent surcharge on certain fossil fuels, including petrol and diesel, under the Nigeria Tax Act. He noted that although the government had said the surcharge had not been activated and would require a ministerial order, Nigerians needed clarity on possible additional energy charges.

“Dele Alake’s statement cannot light a home. Signing a law is not electricity. Raising a bond is not electricity. Approving a project is not power delivered,” Atiku said.

He said Nigerians needed dependable electricity to cook, study, work and operate businesses rather than repeated announcements about plans and interventions. He insisted that reliable and affordable electricity should be a national priority for which President Tinubu must answer.

Corroborating the position of its presidential candidate, Atiku, the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) described the APC’s attempt to rewrite President Tinubu’s categorical 2023 electricity pledge through selective quotations and elaborate explanations as an afterthought.

Reacting to comments by Dele Alake, spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, the ADC-PCC Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, maintained that President Tinubu had been unequivocal when he told Nigerians not to vote for him for a second term if he failed to deliver electricity during his first tenure.

According to the ADC-PCC, Nigerians have not forgotten the President’s words. His commitment, it said, was clear and unambiguous: “Don’t vote for me for a second term if I fail to deliver electricity.”

The ADC recalled that this was the pledge made by candidate Tinubu in 2023, ahead of the presidential election, adding that no amount of selective editing, additional paragraphs or grammatical gymnastics could erase that commitment from the consciousness of Nigerians.

It noted that rather than end estimated billing, the Tinubu administration had presided over increased electricity bills, leaving many households struggling to afford power supply.

The ADC-PCC further observed that businesses, including hospitality facilities, had been forced to ration electricity by switching off power for guests during daytime hours to contain operating costs.

It also criticised the introduction of tariff classifications under Bands A, B, C and others, arguing that consumers continued to pay more without receiving a reliable electricity supply.

The council said that more than three years after the promise was made, Nigerians were still grappling with persistent power outages, repeated national grid collapses and inadequate electricity supply.

It also questioned the effectiveness of the much-publicised Presidential Metering Initiative, alleging that its implementation had fallen short of expectations while electricity distribution companies continued to impose estimated bills on consumers.

According to the ADC-PCC, the APC’s reliance on the Electricity Act and bond programmes in defending the administration’s record did not address the fundamental question of whether Nigerians enjoyed reliable and affordable electricity.

“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 further argued that electricity tariffs had increased substantially while supply remained unreliable, placing additional pressure on households, manufacturers and small businesses already battling rising operating costs.

It maintained that the President’s own condition for seeking a second term was straightforward: deliver electricity or do not ask Nigerians for another mandate.

The ADC-PCC therefore called on the APC to address the electricity question directly rather than attempt to dilute a public commitment made by its presidential candidate.

It said the January 16, 2027 election would provide Nigerians with an opportunity to assess the administration’s performance against its promises and make their choices at the polls.