The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has said critics are quoting President Bola Tinubu’s 2023 electricity promise selectively, arguing that the full pledge included a condition that he would explain any shortfall before asking for a second term.
In a statement issued on 1 November 2026 by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, the council recalled that Tinubu, then the APC candidate, made the pledge at a meeting with the Organised Private Sector in Lagos ahead of the 2023 elections.
He had identified estimated billing as a heavy burden on households and businesses and promised to end it.
His words at the event, as quoted by the council, were: “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 council said some recent public commentary left out that closing qualification. It argued that a fair assessment should weigh the full statement against the administration’s record since 2023, judged by measurable gains in electricity supply, metering, infrastructure and market stability.
It conceded that fixing the power sector remains unfinished, but insisted the President is working consistently to deliver and has not wavered in his commitment.
The council listed several steps it credited to the administration: Within two weeks of taking office, Tinubu signed the Electricity Act, 2023, on 9 June. The law moved the power sector off the Exclusive List, allowing states to take part in generation, distribution and transmission. The council said Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Kaduna and Niger have since set up their own electricity regulatory agencies and begun attracting private capital.
The administration took on a legacy debt of over N6 trillion that built up between 2015 and 2025, launched the Presidential Metering Initiative to close a metering gap of more than 7 million, and aligned tariffs with costs to restore liquidity to the market. It also put in place a system to protect low income households.
According to the council, over 1.5 million customers have been metered in the last three years.
The Rural Electrification Agency has connected universities, hospitals and rural communities to solar power, while the government has announced plans to modernise the Osogbo Grid Control Centre, which is more than 60 years old, and to build an East-West super grid.
The council also pointed to a N4 trillion bond programme created to settle verified legacy debts owed to 21 power generation and gas companies. It said the first two tranches have raised over N1.2 trillion, and cited Geregu Power Plc’s recent announcement of investments in new power transformers for its Geregu 1 plant as evidence that generators are beginning to reinvest.
On transmission, the statement said Tinubu reviewed the Presidential Power Initiative inherited from the late President Muhammadu Buhari and signed an Acceleration Agreement with German partners in December 2023. The Federal Executive Council approved the first batch of five TCN substation upgrades in December 2024, and the council said these will be commissioned before the end of the administration’s first term. In June 2026, the Council approved a second batch covering eight new substations and four upgrades. It noted that power equipment is a long lead item and cannot be delivered overnight.
The statement also defended the introduction of Service Bands with different tariffs, saying they improve the finances of distribution companies and cash flow in the sector while reducing the government’s subsidy burden. It said the administration will keep seeking ways to improve the sector’s commercial position while protecting access for the less privileged.
“Fixing the electricity market and power sector is ongoing work,” the council said, adding that as Tinubu seeks a second mandate, he will present his scorecard on power and tell Nigerians what remains to be done.
