Former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has blamed leadership failures for the recurring collapse of Nigeria’s national grid, calling the situation “utterly disappointing.”

In a statement on Saturday, Obi said, “This power crisis is a direct result of continuous leadership failures.

The power sector is critical and requires competent and committed leadership to thrive. It is utterly disappointing that for three consecutive years—from 2023 to 2025—our nation has been ranked as having the least access to electricity globally, with nearly 100 million citizens left without power.”

The national grid collapsed on Friday for the first time in 2026, with power generation dropping to 0 megawatts (MW).

Obi, recalling similar collapses in 2025, described the latest outage as the beginning of a “national shame.”

Comparing Nigeria’s power generation with other African countries, Obi highlighted the disparity, “South Africa, with about 64 million people, generates over 40,000 MW. Egypt, with 115 million, also produces over 40,000 MW. Algeria, with 48 million people, generates more than 50,000 MW.

“Meanwhile, Nigeria, Africa’s largest and most populous nation with over 240 million citizens, produces a mere 5,000 MW—an absurdly low figure that severely hampers our productivity.”

Obi called for competent and empathetic leadership, urging Nigerians to vote for leaders capable of delivering meaningful change in the country’s power sector and beyond.

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