By Abiola Olawale
Following a week of darkness across major Nigerian cities, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has issued a stinging rebuke of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demanding he honor his 2022 campaign pledge and withdraw from the 2027 race.
The criticism comes on the heels of the second national grid collapse in January 2026 alone, an occurrence Obi described as a “national shame” and a blatant violation of the social contract between the President and the Nigerian people.
In a statement released via his official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday, January 28, titled “No Steady Power in Four Years, No Second Term,” Obi reminded the President of his own words during the 2022 campaign trail.
”President Bola Tinubu’s campaign promise in 2022 was clear: ‘If I do not provide steady electricity in my first four years, do not vote for me for a second term,'” Obi stated.
Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State argued that with the grid collapsing 12 times in 2025 and twice already in the first month of 2026, the administration has fundamentally failed to meet its most critical infrastructure benchmark.
“Yet, in January 2026 alone, the national grid has already collapsed twice, and the month is not even over,” Obi said, adding that “last year, it collapsed about twelve times.”
According to him, the repeated grid failures should be a source of concern for Nigerians, as they represent a sharp contradiction of the administration’s assurances.
“This reality sharply contradicts the promise and should worry every patriotic Nigerian,” he said.
Obi also criticised the president’s frequent foreign travels, noting that Tinubu was currently in Turkey while critical domestic challenges persisted.
“At the same time, the President is on another foreign trip, this time to Turkey, a country of about 87 million people — roughly a third of Nigeria’s population,” he said.
Drawing a comparison between both countries, Obi highlighted the disparity in electricity generation capacity.
“Turkey generates and distributes over 120,000 megawatts of electricity, while Nigeria struggles with less than five per cent of that capacity,” he said, describing the contrast as “both striking and painful.”
The former Anambra State governor urged the president to focus on addressing Nigeria’s internal challenges rather than travelling abroad.
“Our appeal is simple: stay at home and confront the nation’s problems,” Obi said, warning that at the current rate, Nigerians might “soon hear of trips to Palau or Vanuatu while critical issues remain unattended at home.”
He further criticised what he described as an excessive focus on the 2027 elections rather than on governance.
“And yet, our collective preoccupation seems to be the next election, rather than how to secure good governance,” Obi said.
He called on Nigerians to demand accountability and responsible leadership, stressing the need to address the hardship caused by poor governance.
“We should be joining hands to demand accountability and responsible leadership, and to save Nigerians from the indignity and suffering caused by persistent bad governance,” Obi added.
