A power sector analyst and Chief Executive Officer of Sage Consulting and Communications, Barr. Bode Fadipe, has explained why electricity has become a perennial fixture in Nigerian Political Campaigns, describing it as a promise politicians make knowing it resonates deeply with citizens, but rarely fulfil.
Barr. Fadipe who spoke exclusively to TheFact Daily, revealed that in the history of the country, it has not generated up to 10,000MegaWatts (MW) of electricity therefore created a national demand that is seized by politicians during campaigns.
He spoke in response to the former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, who recently announced his vision to raise power generation capacity from its present 4,000MW to 10,000MW, if elected President in 2027.
“In the whole years that we have had electricity in Nigeria, since 1890 something till date, we have never generated 10,000 megawatts in this country,” Fadipe said. “So there is no way electricity will not be a political item or issue of political campaign because it is something that all Nigerians want. Even those who have it, are still asking for more.”
Fadipe who was the former spokesperson of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), argued that the appeal of electricity as a campaign issue stems from its universal demand. Politicians, he said, are by nature marketers, and promising power is among the most effective ways to win voter confidence.
“If anybody comes today and seriously says, ‘I will ensure that there is security, I will ensure that there’s electricity’ once he can do those things, people may not even bother about removal of subsidies. They will go for that person,” he said.
However, he was sceptical about Obi’s specific target, noting that no Politician in his memory, stretching back to Shehu Shagari era of the late 1970s, has ever made good of such promises.
“I have not seen any Politician since the day i started understanding politics in this country fulfilling his promise about electricity. I stand to be corrected,” he said. I want to see how Peter Obi will be able to do it in four years to give us 10,000MW in the grid, not in the power stations.”
He called the pledge “political megawatts,” challenging Obi to translate the campaign rhetoric into actual power in the homes, industries, places of worship, and businesses of ordinary Nigerians.
Fadipe also raised a technical concern: for a country to distribute 10,000MW, it must be capable of generating at least twice that amount.
“Your generation must be two times what you want to sell. So if he is talking about selling 10,000MW, it means he has a blueprint on the capability to generate far more than that,” he said.
