The state is likely in the Middle Belt. That is the best that can be said. The report does not name the state, the constituency, the candidate or the community. The details are unverified. What is clear is the sequence of events. An ADC House of Assembly candidate visited a community. He found that residents had been without electricity for months. He cleared their outstanding bills. Power was restored. Then an opposition candidate, alleged to be on the APC ticket, used connections to have the connection cut again.
Electricity has been a political currency in Nigeria for decades. Communities lobby candidates for transformers. Politicians fund connections and bill settlements. NEPA, now split into distribution companies, remains the shorthand for a system that fails often and blames everyone. In rural and semi-urban Nigeria, access to the grid is not a right but a favour. That makes it negotiable. It also makes it weaponisable. Cutting a rival’s gift is cheaper than matching it.
The candidate described what happened. “When I came here, when I saw everybody sat down, I was touched,” he said. “And I told Bulus and Julius that whatever we would do to sort this thing this week, we will do it. If that’s the only thing we will even do in this constituency, we must do this one.” He said they did the work. Then the lights went out again. He blamed politics. “People that like politics more than governance decided to come and play politics.”
He said he had spoken to senior officials at the power company. A meeting was scheduled for the next morning. He expected reconnection. He also threatened escalation. “If they don’t, I will take this matter to where they will not even believe. And this small thing, I will make it a very big problem in their head.” His argument was simple. “You cannot come and disconnect their light because of politics.”
The details cannot be verified. The state, the candidates and the power company are unnamed. The claim that the rival is an APC candidate is alleged. The claim that the disconnection was politically motivated is an inference. What is documented is the candidate’s own account, delivered on camera.
Winners: The ADC candidate, who gains a campaign narrative. The rival, if the disconnection was intended as a warning and worked. Lawyers and fixers, if the case escalates. Losers: The community, which briefly had light and lost it. Residents, who are pawns in a local power struggle. The power company, which is named as the instrument. The APC, if the allegation sticks. Voters, who see another reason to distrust the process.
Bottom Line: A candidate paid a bill. A rival cut the wire. The community sits in the dark again. The state is likely in the Middle Belt. We do not know for certain where this happened. We do know the pattern. When politics decides who gets light, everyone else stays in the dark.