Atiku tackles APC over Tinubu’s power pledge, says bonds can’t light homes

By Luminous Jannamike ABUJA – Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, APC-PCC, over its defence of President Bola Tinubu’s electricity pledge, insisting that Nigerians cannot power their homes and businesses with laws, bonds and project announcements. Atiku said despite the administration’s explanations about reforms and ongoing projects, Nigerians were still battling unreliable electricity, rising tariffs and the cost of alternative power, three and a half years after Tinubu promised steady supply and an end to estimated billing.

In a statement on Sunday by the Director of Strategic Communication of the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council, ADC-PCC, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president accused the APC campaign council of celebrating policy documents and financial interventions instead of addressing the failure to translate them into reliable electricity.

“The APC should spare Nigerians the spectacle of celebrating paperwork while homes and businesses remain in darkness. After three and a half years, families still struggle to keep their homes lit. Traders and small business owners spend scarce resources on alternative power, yet struggle to keep their businesses alive. Nigerians are billed for electricity they cannot rely on.

President Tinubu promised steady power and an end to estimated billing. That promise has not been kept,” he said. Atiku also faulted the electricity band system, arguing that consumers were paying different tariffs without corresponding improvements in supply. He cited Band A tariffs of about N209.50 per unit in many areas, before VAT, to illustrate the burden on consumers, insisting that Nigerians across all five bands continued to pay for electricity they could not reliably access.

“No family should have to weigh the cost of electricity against the cost of food. No business should be left to pay more while receiving less,” he said. The former vice president also demanded clarity on the Federal Government’s plan to end electricity subsidies from 2027, questioning what the move would mean for household and business electricity bills.

He proposed working with state governments and regulators to abolish the existing band system and introduce what he described as a fairer, more affordable framework that would hold power companies accountable for electricity delivered. Atiku’s lampooned the administration’s multitrillion-naira bond programme to settle legacy debts owed to generation companies, which he said could not be mistaken for investment in new electricity generation infrastructure.

He alleged that the Tinubu administration had not built any new generation infrastructure of its own to expand Nigeria’s power 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 five per cent surcharge provided for certain fossil fuels, including petrol and diesel, under the Nigeria Tax Act, arguing that Nigerians already struggling with energy costs deserved clarity on the prospect of additional charges.

The ADC-PCC’s response followed a defence by APC-PCC spokesman, Dele Alake, who had described the power sector reforms as ongoing work and cited the Electricity Act 2023, a N4 trillion bond programme to settle verified debts owed to generation and gas companies, metering initiatives, transmission projects and state electricity reforms as evidence of the administration’s efforts.

But Atiku insisted that the government could not substitute financial commitments and policy announcements for measurable improvements in electricity supply. “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. Nigerians cannot cook, study, work or sustain a business on announcements.” He then returned to the President’s own campaign promise ahead of the 2023 election.

“If I don’t give you constant electricity for four years, when I come back for a second term, don’t vote for me.” Atiku said Nigerians had now lived through the period Tinubu set for himself and should no longer be asked to accept explanations from his campaign council. “They do not need his campaign council to interpret his words for them. They need him to answer for them,” he said.