Group Raises Alarm Over Alleged Plot To Sabotage Power Supply

The Peoples Right Agenda (PRA), a civic advocacy organization committed to transparency, accountability, and good governance, has raised serious concerns over an alleged coordinated plan to undermine electricity supply in Ibadan and its surrounding communities.

The group warned that the scheme is reportedly designed to discredit the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, for narrow political purposes.

PRA acknowledged that the power sector in Nigeria remains one of the nation’s most complex and historically challenged sectors.

However, the organization commended the Minister for pursuing bold and far-reaching reforms across generation, transmission, and distribution chains.

Despite decades of structural dysfunction, the current administration has initiated transformative policies that are gradually revitalizing the sector and attracting renewed interest from both local and international investors, as well as proactive sub-national actors.

While the pace of progress may appear gradual, PRA stressed that measurable indicators clearly show that the reforms are beginning to yield positive results.

In a statement issued in Ibadan on Sunday and jointly signed by its National Coordinator, Tunde Olaoshebikan, and Secretary, Isaac Olatona, the group disclosed that credible intelligence points to deliberate efforts by certain political interests to destabilize electricity supply in Oyo State.

According to PRA, the objective is to forment public dissatisfaction ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“Since the Honourable Minister visited the IBEDC office on Friday to issue a warning to them on the need to sit up and improve on their service delivery to the people, electricity supply has become regular in most areas that had experienced epileptic supply in the past weeks,” the Group stated.

“This is quite unfortunate and only revealed that we the people are our own enemies. It’s ungodly to deliberately sabotage the efforts of a hardworking Minister for political gains.”

The Group recalled that throughout most of last year, residents and businesses in Ibadan experienced noticeable improvements in power supply.

Major commercial and industrial zones reportedly enjoyed longer hours of electricity, while several manufacturing clusters benefited from more predictable service that enhanced productivity.

“These gains were not incidental,” the statement noted. “They were the outcome of coordinated interventions by the Federal Ministry of Power, working closely with sector stakeholders to resolve technical bottlenecks, stabilize supply, and strengthen distribution efficiency.”

PRA emphasized that although systemic challenges persist within the national grid and distribution networks, the relative stability recorded in Ibadan was widely recognized by traders, artisans, small-scale entrepreneurs, and community leaders.

However, the organization expressed deep concern that as political activities intensify toward 2027, public utilities —especially electricity— are being targeted as tools of propaganda and manipulation.

“It is deeply instructive,” the statement asserted, “that just as political calculations begin to dominate public discourse, coordinated disruptions appear to be emerging to reverse the modest but significant gains achieved in recent months. The apparent aim is to provoke public anger and unjustly place the blame on the Honourable Minister.”

PRA described any attempt to weaponize electricity supply as “anti-people and morally indefensible,” stressing that power is central to economic survival, social stability, and national development.

The group reiterated that under Adelabu’s leadership, the Ministry has consistently pursued sustainable reforms through grid upgrades, stakeholder engagement, and policy realignments intended to improve service delivery nationwide.

According to PRA, any deliberate effort to destabilize supply in a major urban centre like Ibadan not only seeks to damage the Minister’s reputation but also inflicts direct hardship on ordinary citizens —market women, welders, tailors, students, artisans, and small-scale manufacturers whose livelihoods depend on reliable electricity.

“The people must remain vigilant and ask critical questions,” the statement added. “Who stands to benefit from sudden and unexplained disruptions after months of relative stability? Why now, at a time when political ambitions are becoming more visible?”

The organization therefore called on relevant security agencies, regulators, and oversight institutions to intensify surveillance and monitoring within the power value chain in Oyo State.

PRA urged them to ensure that no individual or group is allowed to sabotage infrastructure or manipulate supply patterns for partisan advantage.

While recognizing that the power sector is shaped by multiple interdependent factors —including generation capacity, gas supply, transmission limitations, and distribution constraints— the group insisted that public discourse must be grounded in facts rather than politically motivated distortions.

“As the nation approaches another election cycle, Nigerians must resist attempts to manufacture crises for electoral gain,” PRA concluded. “Electricity is a public good, not a political weapon. It must never be sacrificed on the altar of ambition.”

The organization urged all stakeholders to remain resolute in defending recent gains and to work collectively toward consolidating progress, warning that political rivalries must not be allowed to reverse hard-won improvements in the power sector.