UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Nigeria of failing to convert its oil wealth into reliable electricity, arguing that long-running power shortages stem from flawed public policy rather than a lack of natural resources. Her remarks come as the West African country continues to grapple with limited electricity generation years after it privatized its power sector.
Badenoch made the comments in a recent interview with The Spectator, where she also discussed her upbringing and other topics. She said Nigeria’s decades-long inability to deliver sufficient power is tied to policy choices that have prevented the country from benefiting fully from its hydrocarbon assets.
“My belief that we need to drill our oil and gas comes from growing up in a country… Nigeria is an oil-producing country that has never had electricity,” Badenoch said. She added that possessing resources underground is not the same as turning them into public services.
“It is very easy to have resources under the ground, but stupid public policy means that you can’t use them,” she said, linking Nigeria’s power shortfalls directly to government decision-making.
The criticism lands amid continuing concerns about electricity availability in Nigeria. Power generation in the country has generally stayed in a relatively narrow band—between roughly 3,500 megawatts and 5,000 megawatts—despite a population of more than 250 million people.
In parallel, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signaled that tackling the sector’s problems remains a priority. During his Democracy Day address, he said he would work to ensure that Nigeria’s electricity challenges are addressed.
