Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has called out the Federal Government over the worsening electricity situation in the country while reminding Nigerians of a campaign promise made by the president on December 22, 2022.Obi, in a post on his official X handle on Tuesday, recalled the president’s statement during his campaign, where he said: “If I don’t give you constant electricity in the next four years, don’t vote for me for second term. ”He noted that despite this promise, the country has experienced more national grid failures and power outages under the current administration than at any other time in Nigeria’s history. “Yet APC and its current Government have presided over more national grid failures and power outages than any government in our history. There are now repeated blackouts despite billions in power investments,” Obi said.
He criticised the government for spending billions of dollars on the power sector over the years without achieving any significant improvement.
According to him, Nigeria has spent more on power generation than countries like Vietnam, Egypt, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, yet while those nations have “proudly doubled their electricity generation and distribution by adding tens of thousands of megawatts to transform their economies and increase their GDP,” Nigeria has “barely crawled from 4,500MW to 5,000MW. ”Highlighting the economic potential tied to improved power generation, Obi stressed that Nigeria’s GDP of about $200 billion could grow by 50 percent if the country generates at least 10,000MW of electricity.
He added that prioritising electricity would “unlock industrial growth, create millions of jobs, and boost the economy.”Obi further criticised the government’s focus on less impactful projects, stating: “Rather than focusing on this, which will improve our economy, we are focused on coastal roads that will contribute far less to our economic growth, while factories shut down, jobs disappear, businesses collapse, and ordinary Nigerians live in darkness. ”Calling on the president to act, Obi urged the government to “prioritise generating and distributing more electricity to power businesses, especially MSMEs, which will create jobs and grow the economy.
”He concluded his post with his familiar optimism, stating:
“A New Nigeria is Possible.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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