(Bayo Onanuga and Peter Obi. Photo by Vanguard News)
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga has dismissed a pledge by NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi to add at least 10,000 megawatts to Nigeria’s electricity capacity within four years, saying the former Anambra State governor does not fully understand the country’s existing power infrastructure.
Speaking during an interview shared online on Tuesday, Onanuga said Nigeria already has an installed generation capacity exceeding the figure Obi has promised to deliver, arguing that the country’s core challenge is not a lack of generation capacity but structural bottlenecks including inadequate gas supply, legacy debts and an ageing national grid.
“What people don’t know, and which unfortunately Peter Obi did not know, when he came and said he’s going to generate 10,000 megawatts, we already have in Nigeria stored capacity of 13,500 megawatts,” he said.
He added that players in the power sector owe gas companies legacy debts exceeding ₦4 trillion, which he said the current administration is working to resolve.
Onanuga said President Bola Tinubu moved early to address structural constraints in the sector, pointing to the signing of the Electricity Act which empowers states to generate, transmit and distribute power independently a reform he said several states are already taking advantage of.
He also cited the establishment of the Grid Asset Management Company Limited, known as GAMCO, as part of efforts to optimise underperforming hydropower assets and modernise the country’s transmission infrastructure.
“The grid is outdated,” he acknowledged, while maintaining that power generation has nonetheless improved since the administration took office in May 2023.
Obi’s pledge, made days earlier, has reignited debate over Nigeria’s long-running power sector challenges ahead of the 2027 general election.
