Nigerians on X (formerly Twitter) hammered Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu for his claim that 40% of citizens have 20 hours of electricity daily.
Netizens queried the accuracy of this statement, citing their own experiences with frequent power outages.
Adelabu, who took office in August 2023, has been facing criticism for the statement. In fact, he called an urgent meeting with stakeholders in the power sector back in March 2024 to address the issues in the power sector.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the minister announced significant improvements in Nigeria’s electricity supply, attributing this progress to various reforms initiated under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
“The major achievement is the fact that today we generate over 5,500 megawatts of power, we transmit and distribute it, and over 40 per cent of customers today enjoy over 20 hours of regular power supply across the nation. You can see that there is a significant improvement between when we came in and now, which we intend to improve further,” he said.
The netizens accused the minister of lying, insisting his claim was a mere propaganda to mislead the populace.
An X user, Habibi Of Abj, narrated his ordeal with frequent blackouts in his area. He said: “I’m writing this Tweet while charging my phone with a 2000mah oraimo powerBank with one small solar touch to brighten the room.
“Mr Adewale Adelabu honestly you should be ashamed to say that 40% of Nigerians enjoys 20hrs of light. Statically and realistically not up to 40% of Nigerians enjoys up to 18hrs of constant Electricity.”
“Only Government/reserved areas would attest to 20hrs of Electricity. 60% percent of Nigerians are left in the dark, I guess probably because they do not live in the aso villa or GRA’s. We definitely know this is not your line of profession (Mr chartered account ),” the user added.
I’m writing this Tweet while charging my phone with a 2000mah oraimo powerBank😢 with one small solar touch to brighten the room.
Mr Adewale Adelabu honestly you should be ashamed to say that 40% of Nigerians enjoys 20hrs of light. Statically and realistically not up to 40% of…
— Habibi Of Abj (@habiblinz) September 30, 2024
A popular X influencer, Daniel Regha, said he was also enraged by the minister’s claim.
He said: “There are one news that really upsets me. “40% of Nigerians” ENJOYING 20hrs electricity supply daily; Enjoying like the few people who get such electricity don’t pay for it. In my area we have light for about 8hrs daily, & the light comes at night when businesses have closed for the day.
“Almost everyone rely on generators to run their businesses or relax at home, so when the electricity comes it’s only useful for pumping machine. Again when transformer spoils, we are asked to pay for fixing. Is that what the Minister of Power is calling enjoyment?”
There are one news that really upsets me. “40% of Nigerians” ENJOYING 20hrs electricity supply daily; Enjoying like the few people who get such electricity don’t pay for it. In my area we have light for about 8hrs daily, & the light comes at night when buineses have closed for…
— Daniel Regha (@DanielRegha) September 29, 2024
“You can’t run government on propaganda, the minister says over 40% of Nigerians now have access to power, but over 73% of the population doesn’t have grid power.” a broadcaster, Oseni Rufai added.
You can’t run government on propaganda, the minister says over 40% of Nigerians now have access to power, but over 73% of the population doesn’t have grid power pic.twitter.com/H3czOV4UbU
— oseni rufai (@ruffydfire) September 30, 2024
Bammy wrote: “How did he get this statistics, many people still don’t have power supply in their vicinity, 40% how is that possible.”
How did he get this statistics, many people still don’t have power supply in their vicinity, 40% how is that possible
— Bammy (@BamiShuaib) September 29, 2024
THE KINGPIN wrote: “Maybe he’s talking about his town and community coz I’m still burning fuel.”
Eze_Cheapness wrote: “This is a big lie and if you believe this I implore you to travel out of your comfort zone and then you’ll realize there’s no light.”
The most recent report from the National Bureau Statistics, ‘Nigeria Electricity Report Q1 2024: Energy Billed, Revenue Generated and Customers By DISCOS’ said, ‘Total customer numbers in Q1 2024 stood at 12.33 million’. This indicated that less than 7% of Nigeria’s over 200 million population are registered customers of electricity, another evidence that questions the veracity of the minister’s claim.
The Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre Executive Director, Chief Princewill Okorie, described the minister’s claims as “laughable” when he spoke to newsmen on Sunday.
Okorie questioned the credibility of the statistics, stating, “Where are the reports from the 36 states? You have 774 Local Governments in Nigeria, if you take 40 per cent of the population of citizens in these Local Governments, you’ll know what the data is.”