Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has expressed deep concern over the repeated collapse of Nigeria’s national power grid.
This latest incident, which occurred on Tuesday, left millions of Nigerians without power, marking yet another instance of the ongoing energy crisis.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed that the grid went down around 1:52 pm due to multiple line and generator trippings.
This failure follows a similar incident less than three weeks prior, which also led to widespread outages across the country. TCN’s announcement brought frustration as it once again underscored the fragility of the nation’s power infrastructure.
Reacting to the situation in a statement on Wednesday, Obi described the national grid’s collapse as an occurrence that has sadly become “regular news” in Nigeria.
He drew comparisons to South Africa, a fellow African nation that recently celebrated seven consecutive months of uninterrupted power supply.
According to Obi, South Africa, with roughly a quarter of Nigeria’s population, generates and distributes approximately 40,000 MW of electricity — a stark contrast to Nigeria’s struggling grid, which produces only a fraction of that amount.
“Despite this disparity, Nigerians continue to endure daily power outages,” Obi stated.
He also addressed criticisms he has faced, saying, “When I ask the question: is there any tribe in Nigeria that enjoys uninterrupted power supply like South Africa? I am labelled a tribal bigot. When I ask if any religion enjoys special privileges in this crisis, I am called a religious bigot. But I will continue to speak the truth about our situation today.”
The former governor of Anambra State argued that Nigeria’s power crisis affects all citizens equally and that tribal or religious divisions only serve to distract from the real issues.
Obi emphasized that the country needs visionary leadership focused on economic transformation rather than perpetuating ethnic or religious biases.
“The solution lies not in tribal or religious affiliations but in electing leaders who are competent, capable, and have the vision to transform our nation from a consumer-driven economy to a productive one,” he stated.
Obi highlighted the need for investments in critical areas such as health, education, and infrastructure to drive sustainable development and improve the standard of living for all Nigerians.