A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has criticized President Bola Tinubu over the state of Nigeria’s power sector, faulting his remarks that attributed ongoing electricity challenges to past administrations.
In a statement issued on Monday, Eze recalled Tinubu’s campaign promise ahead of the 2023 general elections to address the country’s electricity crisis through reforms.
“Tinubu told Nigerians that he would fix the country’s failed electricity supply through power sector reforms.
“Today, what we see in every nooks and crannies of Nigeria is total and horrifying darkness. The entire power sector has collapsed, with the national grid crashing at will, with no solution in sight, except borrowing,” Eze stated.
He said he was disappointed by the president’s recent comments, arguing that the administration should take responsibility and apologize to Nigerians for failing to make significant progress despite substantial budgetary allocations over the past three years.
“Resorting to blaming past administrations for his government’s total failure in fixing Nigeria’s electricity problem is an excuse in futility, an aberration and a story for the gods.
“Is it only in the power sector that Mr President has failed Nigerians? Certainly, the answer is no. Honestly, no right thinking Nigerian will believe the hoax because the hallmark of this present administration has been failure, ineptitude, corruption and foreign borrowing.
“It is regrettable and shameful that a man who promised to give light to Nigerians if he becomes President, is the same man trying to blame people for his administrative woes and inability to fulfill his promise,” he said.
Eze also expressed concern over the safety of electricity workers, noting that public frustration could be misdirected at them due to the ongoing challenges in the sector.
He dismissed the president’s explanation that flaws in the privatization of the power sector were responsible for current difficulties.
According to him, even if the challenges stemmed from past decisions, the responsibility to resolve them rests with the present administration.
“Tinubu promised to fix the problems, and never said he would blame past governments as he is doing right now,” he added.
Eze further urged Nigerians to hold the president accountable based on his campaign commitments.
“In his 2023 campaign pledge, Tinubu had reportedly said Nigerians should not vote for him if he failed to improve electricity supply.
“Now, it is crystal clear that Tinubu has failed woefully on his promise, and therefore has no single excuse to give.
“Based on his demand that he be voted out if he fails to address the electricity problem in Nigeria, I therefore urge Nigerians to obey Tinubu’s wish by voting him out of power,” Eze stated.
He questioned why the administration would continue to blame previous governments despite his party’s long standing role in national leadership.
“After blaming skewed privatization of the power sector, Tinubu’s next game plan is to start mentioning names and peddling falsehood, against Nigerians who worked hard to unbundle the monopoly in the power generation sector,” he said.
Eze concluded that Nigerians are increasingly aware of governance challenges, adding that no level of political messaging would shield the administration from public judgment.
“The truth is that Tinubu’s power sector reform only yielded corruption, darkness, and loss of jobs for electricity workers.
“After siphoning and milking the country dry in the name of fixing the power supply issues, Eze advised Tinubu to resign since he has no solution for Nigeria’s worsening electricity problem,” he added.
