2027: Tinubu still panicking with 36 governors…

HAMISU Abdullahi, 38, an electrician and father of four, was arrested in Suleji, Niger State, last Friday. His offense, normally, should have been laughed at.

Not when his “joke” unnerved Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, a famous supporter of the speech ban. Bago excelled at deciding who to speak to and what to say.

Above the din and dust associated with a governor’s presence, Hamisu began shouting, “No water. No light,” shattering the pretense of governing that primarily includes ensuring that a governor hears only things pleasing to his ears.

Hamisu lied? No. The truth does not make people freer. They could end up in prison. If they’re lucky, they might survive.

Hamisu was speaking on behalf of Nigerians, across the country, where governance has been reduced to speeches steeped in layered lies, confusing rallies abroad and curated photo opportunities.

Hamisu was reporting to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Jagaban Borgu, President of Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a man with immense powers, beyond those he has appropriated through executive orders or otherwise taken without order.

Tinubu is powerful enough to ensure 24-hour electricity in Nigeria. He has flooded his electricity policy with such sophisms that it has created failure.

In a Nigeria where people supply their own water and electricity, Hamisu’s was a cry for help – a cry on behalf of all Nigerians who suffer the double jeopardy of high prices for substandard services where available.

The price of petrol on the eve of Tinubu’s presidency in May 2023 was N195 per liter in Lagos and N197 in Abuja. The current price is 1,500 naira per litre, not because of the Iraq war, as they shamelessly say, or the removal of subsidies, but because of Tinubu’s incompetence which he obsessively displaces in every aspect of his administration.

Tinubu has spent billions of our money on a solar power system which has effectively relieved his official residence and offices from the menace called electricity supply.

Did he apologize to anyone or raise a little finger to improve our electrical situation? Selfish like Tinubu, he does not care about the common good.

Tinubu is an embarrassment in many ways. The biggest embarrassment is the millions of Nigerians who go through these Tinubu induced circumstances and justify them.

“Definitely necessary, you must have electricity and you will no longer pay estimated billing. We will honor the promises we make. If I don’t keep my promise and come back for a second term, don’t vote for me,” Tinubu told a mixed gathering of businessmen and politicians in Lagos in December 2022.

Applause rent the air.

Tinubu had no intention of providing electricity in any form. His promise is as empty as Tinubu’s things. Those who remind Tinubu of that promise are not being honest with themselves.

Daniel Bwala’s epic observation about Tinubu in 2022, “Even if you give Tinubu 30 years, nothing will work”, remains true although Tinubu is Bwala’s current green pasture.

What will we do about Tinubu’s devastating consequences on most of us? Tinubu is defiant and unapologetic about his serial failures. He would rather shift the blame, share it, than admit that his administration was an unmitigated disaster in every area.

“Today, we just want to take some time to remind President Tinubu that he promised Nigerians uninterrupted electricity within four years. Yes, that’s right, Mr. President promised us 24/7 power. All by himself,” said Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress, in a long post on X dated July 20, 2025.

“Since Tinubu took office, electricity rates have increased 240%, but the grid has collapsed 12 times, throwing millions of homes and businesses into repeated darkness.

“Over 90 million Nigerians are still without electricity, while many only get 4 to 6 hours a day on Tinubu’s failed Band A–E system.

“In rural communities, the majority of Nigeria’s 50 million households remain completely off-grid, with no access to electricity.

“However, Mr. President has not yet moved the needle. In 26 months, there have been no major energy sector reforms, no clear roadmap and no sense of urgency.

“We are past the halfway point of this administration and millions of Nigerians are still charging their phones at mobile charging kiosks and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to power their generators,” Abdullahi said.

Since then things have gotten worse. The collapse of the national grid has become more frequent and Tinubu no longer talks about the electricity disaster. He ignores it. He moved on.

Abdullahi appeared to have misread Tinubu who had not said he would not run for a second term. He said we shouldn’t vote for him.

Tinubu seems like our votes don’t matter. More or less, if you prefer, don’t vote for me because of electricity.

It is typical of Tinubu to make fun of us. He has all 36 governors pledging to support him. Yet Tinubu is panicking.

Sometimes, he remembers that he is a human being, no matter how his panjandrums promote it.

He could still consider a constitutional amendment to return it unopposed since all governors support it. And it is not for nothing that Obong Godswill Akpabio is president of the National Assembly.

For Tinubu, Nigerians don’t matter. We don’t count. Maybe we are mere statistics, but we scare Tinubu. He knows that his bags of rice are as offensive as is the admission that he has failed miserably at management and that as the years go by things will get worse, as Bwala predicted.

Nigerians have been mistreated enough to punish Tinubu with their votes. We count.
Hamisu’s lone voice was considered a threat that could “disrupt government activities.” What if multiple voices shouted: “No water, no light”?

Finally…

The Chief of Defense Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, has confirmed that North East terrorists (only?) should be allowed to repent instead of being killed. He spoke at a conference in Abuja. He compared terrorists to the biblical prodigal son whose father accepted his repentance.

Who killed the prodigal son to deserve confrontation with terrorists?

What battle instructions does Oluyede exactly give to his troops? Capture terrorists for repentance even if they kill you. And our military and other security operatives whom terrorists kill daily should follow these instructions which were thought to be the intuition of National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

Do these instructions also apply to terrorists in other parts of Nigeria?

A MOTHER of eight in Kano has died a day after giving birth to five babies from her last pregnancy – she had had eight children before. She left behind 13 children whose futures will carry the added burden of being motherless. There was a point where he should have stopped. Unfortunately it took death to stop it.

DELEGATES of the All Progressives Congress, APC, 8,453 of them, descended on Abuja on Friday for a national convention crowning Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate. National deception was in abundance as thousands of people who knew that their life was better before Tinubu, put on shows to establish Tinubu as the best president of Nigeria forever. Incompetence was also severely present. Police fired tear gas at delegates and journalists who thought their accreditation cards could grant them access to the venue.

If this had happened at the congress of other political parties, we would have said that the police acted on orders from above. If tear gas was activated at the APC convention, rest assured that tear gas will be used at every convention.

THE HELPERS chose, while the APC North Central zonal congress was underway in Lafia, Nasarawa State, to unleash chaos in the State in broad daylight. Their target was Mararaba, about 170km from Lafia and just 14km from Abuja. Reports say it was a retaliatory attack on a farmer. The number of victims remains unknown. Lawlessness continues to be satisfied.

The NIGERIA Democratic Congress, NDC, held its first National Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday in Abuja. Delegates from across the country deliberated on creating gateways to Nigeria’s democratic space.

■ ISIGUZO is a great commentator on minor issues.

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