Peter Obi Lands In Big Trouble Over Comment
Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, faced criticism on Sunday for reacting to misleading reports of a national grid collapse.
Multiple reports on Saturday claimed the national grid collapsed just 11 days into 2025, prompting Obi to issue a statement condemning the recurring grid failures.
In his initial statement, Obi expressed concerns about the grid’s fragility, citing 12 collapses in the previous year, which caused significant hardship for households and businesses.
He also questioned the use of $3.23 billion borrowed to fix electricity problems, given the country’s limited power generation capacity.
Obi said: “National grid collapse is now a recurring decimal. I have just read the reports of the collapse of our national grid, just 11 days into the new year. Most of last year, we faced recurrent national grid collapses. That occurred about 12 times in the year. The untold setback and hardship it brought on households and businesses was immeasurable.
“Further reports showed that Nigeria has borrowed over $3.23 billion in the last four years to fix its electricity problems, and yet the country cannot produce more than about 4,500 megawatts of power for the people.
“Instead of making significant progress, our recurrent occurrences of grid collapse have continued to characterize our power sector.
“One then wonders where all the funds borrowed for the power sector have gone into.
“The lack of sincere commitment by us, the leaders, to the true development of the nation, followed by the widespread corruption eating through every sector of our national existence, has continued to drive retrogression and backwardness in our nation.
“This is a new year, and again, I will appeal to the government to make it a fresh start by building on the lessons of yesteryear to now improve every aspect of the nation, including the power sector, without which households and small businesses will continue to struggle under immeasurable economic burdens. A New Nigeria Remains POssible. -PO”
However, after learning the report of national grid collapse was inaccurate, Obi issued a second statement, acknowledging the error and appreciating the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN) prompt clarification.
“Following my earlier message regarding the alleged collapse of the National Grid, which was based on reports from reputable media platforms, I have since learned that there was no such collapse. Instead, the incident involved the tripping of the Osogbo-Ihovbor and Benin-Omotosho lines, which affected the Lagos axis.
“I appreciate the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for their prompt clarification on the matter.
“I sincerely hope we will prioritize enhancing our infrastructure in the power sector and remain committed to improving power generation to meet the growing needs of over 200 million Nigerians,” Obi stated on Sunday.
Despite this, many Nigerians criticized Obi on social media for reacting impulsively to negative news.
Reno Omokri, a critic, accused Obi of being overly enthusiastic about bad news, while remaining silent on positive developments.
“Warri Refinery came back to life, and Peter Obi said nothing. Simon Ekpa was arrested, and Obi did not comment. Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway construction progressed to the Ogun border, and Lamba Obi closed his mouth.
“But when National Grid did not collapse, Peter Obi sprang to life and lied that it did. How can a man be so energised by gbajue?
“Is it that this man just sits idly somewhere, patiently waiting for bad news to happen in Nigeria so he can be happy? How can you hate a country so much, yet you want to govern it?”
Others, like David Offor, advised Obi to verify information before posting to avoid damaging his reputation
“It is really sad how because of clout chasing you are messing yourself up. At your level, you should confirm information before posting to avoid bringing problems to your person,” David stated.
Michael Chibuzo on his part said: “Meanwhile, Peter Obi in your “apology” post, you are insinuating that the TCN did the clarification after you had published the fake news about the national grid collapse.
“However, this is inaccurate. TCN published their clarification long before you made your post. They later posted it on their X handle at 8:07pm while you made your post at 8:25pm. You know what you’re doing.
