Tinubu’s 2023 Electricity Pledge Taken Out Of Context, Says APC Campaign Council

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has defended President Bola Tinubu’s 2023 campaign promise to end estimated billing and ensure stable electricity supply, saying his remarks have been taken out of context.

In a statement on Sunday, the council’s spokesperson, Dele Alake, said Tinubu made the pledge while addressing members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in Lagos ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Alake said the then presidential candidate had outlined plans to address longstanding structural and institutional challenges in the power sector, particularly the burden of estimated billing on households and businesses.

He recalled Tinubu’s words at the meeting: “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.”

The APC spokesperson argued that some recent commentaries had omitted the concluding part of the statement, in which Tinubu said he would provide Nigerians with adequate reasons if he failed to fulfil the pledge before seeking a second term.

He maintained that the president’s commitment should be assessed alongside his administration’s interventions in the electricity sector since assuming office in 2023.

According to Alake, Tinubu signed the Electricity Act 2023 on June 9, less than two weeks after taking office, allowing state governments to participate in electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

He listed Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Kaduna and Niger among the states that have established electricity regulatory agencies to take advantage of the legislation and attract private investment.

On metering, Alake said the administration launched the Presidential Metering Initiative to address a backlog of more than seven million unmetered electricity customers, adding that over 1.5 million customers had been metered under the programme in the last three years.

He also said the government had taken steps to address more than ₦6 trillion in legacy debts accumulated between 2015 and 2025, while introducing a ₦4 trillion bond programme to settle verified obligations to power generation and gas companies.

The spokesperson said the first and second tranches of the bond programme had raised more than ₦1.2 trillion towards settling the debts owed to 21 generation companies and gas suppliers.

Alake further listed investments in substations, grid expansion and renewable energy projects among the administration’s efforts to improve electricity supply.

He said the Rural Electrification Agency had connected universities, hospitals and rural communities to solar power, while the government had unveiled plans to modernise the Osogbo Grid Control Centre and construct an East-West super grid.

On transmission infrastructure, he said the administration reviewed the Presidential Power Initiative inherited from the late President Muhammadu Buhari and signed an acceleration agreement with its German partners in December 2023.

He added that the Federal Executive Council approved the first batch of five Transmission Company of Nigeria substations for upgrades in December 2024, with another set of projects approved in June 2026 to construct eight new substations and upgrade four existing ones.

Alake said the administration had also introduced different electricity service bands and adjusted tariffs towards cost-reflective levels to improve the financial position of distribution companies, while putting measures in place to protect low-income households.

He acknowledged that efforts to resolve the power sector crisis were still ongoing but insisted that Tinubu remained committed to his campaign promise.

“As he seeks Nigerians’ mandate for a second term in office, he will proudly present his scorecard in the power sector and clearly tell Nigerians what remains to be done,” he said.