As President Bola Tinubu hits the 2027 campaign trail, promising a more reliable electricity supply and vowing to fix the shortcomings of past power sector privatisations, Nigerians are looking back at a familiar script with mounting skepticism.
Speaking at an All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign rally in Dutse, Jigawa State, the President assured citizens that his administration would finally tackle the country’s chronic power challenges, alongside boosting small-scale businesses and agriculture.
The new pledges, however immediately re-ignited fierce public debate over a starkly similar promise he made on the road to the 2023 general election, at a meeting with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in Lagos ahead of the 2023 vote, where he made a definitive commitment to end estimated billing and guarantee stable power. 
He had told his audience: “Whichever way, by all means necessary, you will have electricity, and you will not pay for estimated bills anymore. A promise made will be a promise kept.”
More crucially, the then-candidate staked his political future on that specific outcome, telling voters not to vote for him if he sought a second term without delivering, unless he provided adequate reasons for failing to do so.
Opponents had latched on the failure to fulfill the promise to insist a second term for the President should be off the table given that millions of Nigerians still grapple with persistent grid collapses and dark homes.
However, Dele Alake, All Progressives Congress APC Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), in a fierce pushback, argued that Tinubu’s words were taken out of context, noting that critics conveniently omitted his qualifying remark about providing “adequate reasons” for any shortcomings.
Highlighting administrative steps such as the Electricity Act 2023, the Presidential Metering Initiative, and investments in transmission infrastructure, the campaign maintains that the President remains dedicated to resolving the crisis—even as citizens continue to weigh his fresh 2027 commitments against years of unmet expectations.
