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By Sunny A. David, Awka
Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has criticised President Bola Tinubu over the persistent collapse of Nigeria’s national electricity grid, arguing that the recurring outages undermine the President’s 2022 pledge to guarantee stable power within his first term in office.
In a post on X, Obi recalled Tinubu’s pledge that Nigerians should not re-elect him if he failed to provide stable electricity during his first term. He noted that the national grid had already collapsed twice in January 2026, even before the end of the month, and reportedly about 12 times in 2025.
“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.’ Yet, in January 2026 alone, the national grid has already collapsed twice. Last year, it collapsed about twelve times,” Obi stated, describing the development as deeply concerning.
The former Anambra State Governor also criticised Tinubu’s ongoing trip to Turkey, pointing out that the country, with a population of about 87 million, generates and distributes over 120,000 megawatts of electricity far more than Nigeria’s output, which he said is less than five per cent of that figure. Obi urged the President to prioritise resolving domestic challenges and called on Nigerians to demand accountability rather than focus on future elections.
Meanwhile, fresh concerns have emerged over grid stability following multiple disturbances recorded within a short period. The national grid suffered another collapse on Tuesday, marking the second system failure in four days and the third since December 29, 2025.
Data monitored by our correspondent showed that power generation dropped sharply from 3,825 megawatts at 10am to just 39MW by 11am on Tuesday, after peaking at 4,762MW earlier in the morning. At the height of the disruption, load allocation to electricity distribution companies fell to 0.00MW, resulting in widespread outages across the country.
Distribution companies (DisCos) attributed the repeated collapses to low power generation but dismissed suggestions that the sector was reverting to an era of frequent grid failures. The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company and the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company both confirmed total loss of supply in their franchise areas, assuring customers that efforts were underway to restore power.
The Spokesperson for the DisCos, Sunday Oduntan, acknowledged growing concerns over grid instability in 2026 but maintained that improvements had been made in response times compared to 2024. He identified inadequate power generation as the sector’s primary challenge, stressing the need for urgent action to boost output.
The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) explained that Tuesday’s incident was triggered by a voltage disturbance at the Gombe Transmission Substation around 10:48am. The disturbance reportedly spread to the Jebba, Kainji and Ayede substations, causing several transmission lines and generating units to trip and resulting in a partial system collapse.
According to NISO, corrective measures were swiftly implemented, with restoration efforts beginning at about 11:11am. Power supply was subsequently restored across affected areas. However, the latest disruption has renewed calls for greater investment in transmission infrastructure, improved grid stability and enhanced response mechanisms to safeguard Nigeria’s electricity supply.
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