The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has clarified President Bola Tinubu’s 2023 campaign promise to end estimated billing, stating that his remarks were taken out of context.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the council’s spokesperson, Dele Alake, explained that the pledge was made while addressing the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in Lagos ahead of the 2023 general elections and was taken out of context.
The President’s statement below;
“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. If I don’t keep the promise and I come for a second term, don’t vote for me, unless I give you adequate reasons why I couldn’t deliver.”
The APC spokesperson, while defending the president’s statement, stated that recent commentaries deliberately omitted the concluding part of the President’s statement, where he promised to provide adequate reasons if he failed to fulfil the pledge before seeking a second term.
Alake stated that the administration’s performance should be judged by its concrete interventions since assuming office in 2023.
He added that the administration signed the Electricity Act 2023 less than two weeks after the inauguration, which has empowered states like Lagos, Enugu, Kaduna, and Niger to establish independent regulatory agencies.
The spokesperson, while addressing the metering deficit, said the Presidential Metering Initiative was launched to tackle a backlog of over seven million unmetered customers. According to him, more than 1.5 million electricity consumers have been metered under this programme in the last three years.
He added that the Federal Government has introduced a ₦4 trillion bond programme to clear over ₦6 trillion in legacy debts accumulated between 2015 and 2025. The first two tranches of this bond have already raised more than ₦1.2 trillion to settle verified obligations to 21 generation and gas companies.
On infrastructure, Alake listed the goal of the administration to invest in grid expansion and renewable energy. He revealed that the administration has signed an agreement with German partners in December 2023 to review and upgrade the Presidential Power Initiative.
The Federal Executive Council also approved the upgrade of five Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) substations in December 2024, followed by another approval in June 2026 for the construction of eight new substations.
Leave a comment