The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has claimed that the Tinubu administration’s latest approach to electricity reform mirrors a decentralised power model he proposed more than two decades ago.
In a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former Vice-President said the Federal Government’s recent acknowledgement that Nigeria can no longer depend solely on large, centralised power plants validates a position he has consistently advocated for over the past 21 years.
“It should not take a government three years in office to discover what was obvious more than two decades ago,” Atiku said.
He criticised the administration for increasing electricity tariffs before implementing reforms that would improve power supply.
“A government that thinks before it acts would have fixed the system before asking citizens to pay more. Unfortunately, this administration has done the exact opposite,” he stated.
Atiku explained that while serving as Vice-President between 1999 and 2007, he supported a decentralised electricity system powered by a mix of hydro, solar, gas and other energy sources. He also disclosed that he declined to chair the Power Sector Reform Committee set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo because he disagreed with its focus on gas-fired electricity generation.
“I believed then, as I do now, that Nigeria’s electricity future lay in a diversified and decentralised energy mix—not an overdependence on a single source,” he said.
The former Vice-President argued that despite billions of dollars invested in the power sector over the years, the expected improvements were not achieved. He added that he had maintained the same position during his presidential campaigns and in a 2022 interview on Arise Television.
According to Atiku, the current administration has spent nearly three years experimenting with policies that have resulted in higher electricity tariffs, struggling businesses and increased hardship for consumers.
“Today, the Tinubu administration is merely acknowledging what I proposed years ago,” he said.
Atiku said an ADC-led government under his leadership would adopt a diversified and decentralised electricity generation strategy, expand transmission infrastructure, strengthen distribution networks and encourage greater private sector participation to ensure stable and affordable electricity nationwide.
“Nigeria does not suffer from a shortage of ideas. It suffers from a shortage of leaders willing to act on the right ideas at the right time,” he added.
