Column urges voters to make electricity the defining issue of 2027

A Nigerian writer and diaspora commentator has called on voters to make stable electricity the central issue of the 2027 elections, arguing that darkness is the biggest driver of poverty in the country.

Writing after a keynote address at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on October 1, he said Nigerians he met abroad kept returning to the same complaint: unreliable power. Two Nigerian professionals there, an engineering professor and a pharmacist, asked him to press the case in a column.

The writer said the problem is not a mystery but a choice. He pointed to official figures: a 2024 National Bureau of Statistics survey of nine states found grid-connected households received an average of just 6.61 hours of electricity a day. As recently as August 2026, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission recorded average grid generation of about 4,102 megawatts.

What the numbers mean for ordinary Nigerians

For traders, artisans and small manufacturers, the cost shows up in fuel. The engineering professor gave an example: a computer-controlled milling machine costing around $100,000 could burn about ₦155,400 in diesel for 12 hours of daily running. Over 25 working days, that is nearly ₦3.9 million spent on fuel alone — money that could go into staff, materials or expansion.

Hospitals, barbers, welders and business owners who should be growing instead spend their capital on generators, the writer said. He described this as a private tax Nigerians pay to cover government failure.

He also criticised the band system that groups electricity consumers by the hours they receive, with Band A promised at least 20 hours a day and Band E just four. In his view, the goal should be Band A supply for everybody.

The column noted that the 2023 Electricity Act gives states wider powers to set up and regulate their own electricity markets. It urged governors and aspirants to publish credible plans to add capacity — suggesting 200 megawatts within four years as a starting benchmark — and to say whether it will come from gas, solar, hydro or a mix, who will pay and when it will reach homes.

Comparisons abroad

The writer held up India, where a 2022 study by Debajit Palit and Atul Kumar reported about 400 million people without electricity in 2011 and near-universal household connections by 2019. India's government reports average rural supply rising from 12.5 hours a day in 2014 to 22.6 hours in 2025, with urban areas above 23 hours. The Saubhagya programme connected roughly 28.6 million households.

He also cited South Africa, where the state utility Eskom reported more than 500 consecutive days without nationwide load shedding as of October 2 this year.

The piece recalled President Bola Tinubu's 2023 campaign remarks that "a common screwdriver can create a path to fortune if electricity is taken care of," and his advice then that Nigerians should not vote for him again if he failed to deliver power. It said his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, has since pointed to a caveat in that statement about giving adequate reasons for any shortfall.

The writer named Adebayo Adelabu, who resigned as minister of power in April to pursue his ambition to govern Oyo State, and his successor Joseph Tegbe. He argued Nigerians should judge the president by the electricity that reaches their homes and businesses.

What happens next: The column is opinion, not policy. But it signals that power supply is likely to feature in campaign debates ahead of the 2027 general elections, alongside the economy and security.