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● Former Anambra governor: Nigeria produces less than 10% of the electricity of Egypt and South Africa. “It can’t happen under me”
Peter Obi has issued a challenge to power: elect me in 2027 and Nigeria will go from 4,000 MW to 10,000 MW of electricity generation in four years.
The former Anambra governor made the promise on Saturday after emerging as the sole presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, at the party’s national convention in Abuja.
Obi tore into Nigeria’s power numbers before party delegates.
“A country of over 200 million people generates and distributes only 4,000 MW. This is unacceptable,” he said.
“Nigeria has the highest number of citizens without access to electricity in the world. About 100 million Nigerians live in darkness.”
Then came the comparison that stung: “South Africa and Egypt – both less than 50% of our population – generate over 40,000 MW each. We don’t produce even 10% of what these two African nations produce. These are African countries. It can’t happen. And it won’t happen under our government.”
Obi’s main commitment: triple current capacity by 2031. “I promise on behalf of our government that in four years this country will generate and distribute at least 10,000 megawatts of the 4,000 it is doing today.”
The NDC candidate rejected NBS data putting unemployment in the second quarter of 2024 at 4.3%. He said the data “does not reflect the reality on the ground” for millions of unemployed Nigerians.
—Why energy matters for 2027—
Electricity has sunk every president since 1999. Obi’s promise of 10,000 MW sets a clear and measurable benchmark to Tinubu’s current base of 4,000 MW. If he can’t explain how to get there, rivals will pounce. If he does, it becomes his most powerful electoral weapon.
Obi’s ratification by the NDC makes him one of the first major opposition candidates to block the ticket for 2027. The promise of power is now his opening salvo.
