By Opeyemi Adelakun
Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has dismissed promises of delivering round-the-clock electricity across Nigeria within four years, describing such commitments as unrealistic given the country’s infrastructure deficit.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Obi said building the infrastructure required for stable electricity supply takes years and should not be reduced to campaign rhetoric.
“24-hour electricity within four years is impossible. If you want to build a power plant, it takes about four years. Improving transmission lines also takes years,” he said.
Rather than making what he described as unrealistic promises, Obi said his administration would focus on ensuring Nigeria generates, transmits and distributes at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity within a four-year term.
“But within four years, we will ensure we can generate, transmit and distribute not less than 10,000 megawatts,” he stated.
The former Anambra State governor said his plan would rely heavily on embedded power projects, pointing to the Geometric Power model in Aba as an example that should be replicated in major industrial hubs across the country.
“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,” Obi said.
He also pledged to address the financial challenges facing the electricity sector by settling outstanding debts owed to electricity generation companies, arguing that restoring investor confidence is essential to improving power supply.
“Today, the government owes generating companies trillions of naira. We must pay them. 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 added.
Leave a Reply