The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has promised to generate, transmit and distribute at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity within four years if elected president in the 2027 general elections.
Obi made the promise on Thursday during the party’s town hall meeting at the Classique Event Centre in Lagos State, where he addressed supporters and stakeholders despite an earlier attack on the venue by suspected political thugs.
The former Anambra State governor declared that tackling Nigeria’s electricity crisis would be among the major priorities of his administration.
He said his government would immediately declare a state of emergency in three critical sectors: security, education and electricity.
“If we are elected, we will declare an immediate state of emergency on security, education and electricity.
“As I promised, we will generate, transmit and distribute at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity, because we want industrial work,” Obi said.
He explained that his administration would work towards achieving the 10,000-megawatt target within four years, arguing that stable electricity supply was essential for industrialisation, business growth and employment generation.
According to him, Nigeria’s persistent electricity shortages have continued to undermine businesses, weaken industrial activities and slow down economic development.
To highlight the country’s power challenges, Obi compared Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity with that of South Africa.
“I was in South Africa; they have over 40,000 megawatts of electricity and yet people are complaining they have no power when we have just 4,000 in Nigeria and we’re not complaining. This is the time for us to come out to complain,” he stated.
Obi further lamented that Nigeria currently generates and distributes approximately 4,000 megawatts of electricity despite having a population of more than 200 million people.
He maintained that improving electricity generation, transmission and distribution would help revive industries, create employment opportunities and stimulate economic activities across the country.
