The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has defended President Bola Tinubu’s performance in the power sector, promising to present a comprehensive scorecard ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The council said the administration’s efforts to address Nigeria’s electricity challenges should be assessed alongside the reforms introduced since Tinubu assumed office in May 2023.
The spokesperson for the council, Dele Alake, stated this on Sunday while responding to criticism over the President’s campaign promise to end estimated electricity billing.
During a meeting with members of the Organised Private Sector in Lagos before the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu had pledged to ensure that Nigerians would no longer pay estimated bills. He also challenged voters not to re-elect him if he failed to fulfil the commitment without providing adequate explanations.
Alake argued that some critics had quoted the President’s promise without including his qualification concerning the reasons he would provide if the commitment was not fully achieved.
Although he acknowledged that Nigeria’s electricity crisis remained unresolved, the APC spokesperson maintained that the administration had taken steps to improve the sector.
Among the measures he highlighted was the Electricity Act 2023, signed by Tinubu in June of that year. The legislation allows states to establish regulatory frameworks for electricity generation, transmission and distribution within their jurisdictions.
According to Alake, several states, including Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Kaduna and Niger, have taken advantage of the law to establish electricity regulatory agencies and attract private investment.
He also cited the Presidential Metering Initiative, which was introduced to address a reported metering gap of more than seven million electricity customers. Alake said over 1.5 million customers had been metered under the initiative within the administration’s first three years.
The APC spokesperson further highlighted the government’s efforts to settle outstanding liabilities in the electricity market through a ₦4 trillion bond programme targeting verified debts owed to electricity generation and gas companies.
He said the first two tranches had raised more than ₦1.2 trillion to settle part of the outstanding obligations, adding that the intervention was intended to restore confidence and encourage fresh investment in the sector.
Alake also defended electricity tariff adjustments introduced by the administration, arguing that cost-reflective pricing was necessary to improve the financial sustainability of distribution companies and the wider electricity market.
