Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has finally embraced his 21-year-old blueprint for reforming Nigeria’s power sector.

In a statement issued on Sunday by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the Federal Government’s recent position on decentralising electricity generation aligns with the policy direction he advocated more than two decades ago.

According to Atiku, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe’s acknowledgment that Nigeria can no longer rely solely on large, centralised power plants is a belated endorsement of the decentralised electricity model he championed during his time as Vice President.

“It should not take a government three years in office to discover what was obvious more than two decades ago,” Atiku said.

He criticised the Tinubu administration for increasing electricity tariffs before implementing the reforms needed to improve power supply.

Atiku recalled that while serving under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he consistently pushed for the decentralisation of electricity generation by harnessing Nigeria’s diverse energy resources, including hydroelectric dams, solar energy, natural gas, and other viable sources.

“This has been my position for over two decades,” he added.