The leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has lashed back at Vice President Kashim Shettima over the latter’s reaction to her comments about Nigeria.

Badenoch was born in the UK in 1980 to Nigerian Yoruba parents.

Badenoch, who attained age 16 in Nigeria before departing the country for the UK where she was elected Conservative Party’s leader, described Nigeria as a nation brimming with thieving politicians and insecurity.

However, Shettima, while speaking at the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday, December 9, 2024, accused Badenoch of “denigrating her country of origin” with her remarks.

The vice-president listed influential people whose families had migrated to other countries, commending former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “brilliant young man who never denigrated his nation of ancestry.”

Reacting on Wednesday, Badenoch lashed back at Shettima, saying she doesn’t do “PR for Nigeria”.

Her spokesperson, as the Tory leader, according to UK Express, said: “Kemi is not interested in doing Nigeria’s PR; she is the Leader of the Opposition in the UK.

“She tells the truth; she tells it like it is; she isn’t going to couch her words. She stands by what she said.”

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has urged President Bola Tinubu to reduce the price of petrol to N300 per litre, noting that it would enable Nigerians to celebrate the festive season.

He also said the party will overcome its current challenges before the 2027 elections, noting that the ambition of an individual should not be higher than the party’s interest.

Speaking on the need for a reduction in petrol price at a press conference in Lagos, the PDP leader said the reduction should commence immediately.

George said: “What am I suggesting is that by the 15th or the middle of this month, President Tinubu, if he really believes that these Nigerians voted him into power, it is time to give back to them.

“There are two months in any calendar year that are very important months. Whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, an atheist, or a traditionalist, it is common and it is all over the world. The months of December and January are the most important months.

“From the middle of December, at least to the end of January, the cost of petrol should be reduced to N300 per litre. The government can absorb the losses.

“With this, you will be sending a lot of messages of happiness across the tribes and homes. Everybody in Nigeria will be happy because it will positively impact this period of the year.

“It is a challenge and he can do it. If Madam First Lady could donate N1 billion to a university, she could also donate into the coffers to bear this cost. What’s wrong? So that everybody will be able to sleep well with N300 per litre across the board.

“So by the end of January, in the meantime, the prayers, the happiness, the impact of that will drive people up. And the Almighty God will answer our prayers. We need this in this December and January to put a smile on the faces of people.

“Who is the Minister of Petroleum? So he has a singular effort and if he really looks at these cuts in fuel price across all political parties, all human beings, all Nigerians, he will see the joy in them because the cost of items will crash.”

He said there is no organization anywhere in the world that is not riddled with crisis.

He said this at an interactive session in Lagos.

“I call our party (PDP) the Iroko because the party didn’t emerge from anywhere. It is entrenched in our constitution. Section 7 (3c), of the PDP constitution states that there will be and there must be and there shall be zoning and rotation of party positions and elective offices.

“Everything that had been in the South must go to the North. Everything that is in the North must come to the South. So that was what drove some of us because this is justice, equity, and fairness.

“That’s what made some of us say, I will join politics. We were the first to be elected in 1999. The first were appointed the managers.

“They handed over to us these procedures and these doctrines, so suddenly human manipulation came because someone wants to be president.

“So your ambition is now higher than the corporate ambition of everybody. Who the hell are you? And because it’s been going from generation to generation, I’m happy I’m still alive. We can talk about it.

“What they handed over to us, we are telling them, this is what they handed over that made the party to be stable. We will tell ourselves some serious old truths. We messed up ourselves with the manipulation. It started with Ayu,” the party chieftain added.

Wholesale gas-producing companies have abruptly stopped the supply of natural gas to power generation companies for electricity production over the non-payment of debts accrued from previous supplies, fresh findings by The PUNCH have shown.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Power Generation Companies, Dr Joy Ogaji, disclosed the latest development in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday, stressing that the gas-producing companies have formally notified all GenCos of the suspension of natural gas supply.

The gas supply was abruptly halted after the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority reportedly instructed gas producers to suspend the delivery of natural gas to indebted GenCos until further notice, citing the escalating debts.

The situation has led to a nationwide electricity blackout, severely impacting power generation across the country.

Currently, over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s power is produced by gas-fired power plants.

Earlier this year, Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed that the Federal Government would start offsetting part of the debts it owes power generating companies and gas suppliers from April this year.

The Minister, while on a working visit to Egbin Power Plc in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State, said he would liaise with the Central Bank of Nigeria to prioritise foreign exchange allocation to the power sector, saying this would boost the ability to ramp up capacity in terms of generating output.

“The Federal Government is now prioritising paying down on the outstanding debts, and I have assured the board and management that effective from April, we will start paying down on debts, as a form of incentive to continue to have them in operation,” he stated.

While the government has in the past few months paid N205bn of the debt owed to the GenCos, an ongoing disagreement between the NMDPRA and gas producers on who should collect the 0.5 per cent wholesale price levy imposed on petroleum products by the Petroleum Industry Act made the suppliers demand the payment of monies owed.

Speaking during the interview, APGC  CEO Dr Ogaji stated that all relevant authorities, including the presidency, have been notified of the current situation and are awaiting the necessary interventions.

She added that debt, which hovered around N2tn earlier this year, has increased to N2.7tn.

She said, “It is no longer a matter of NMDPRA giving a directive. They have already stopped the supply of gas to power-generating companies.

“They (gas suppliers) have halted the supply. They have already informed our gencos that they are not going to be supplying gas anymore until what is outstanding is settled and it didn’t happen today.

“We have told the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, they are already aware of the situation. There is nobody who would say they are not aware; the minister is aware, and the presidency is aware.

“The total debt has now increased to over N2.7tn and you know that 70 per cent of thermal Gencos invoice is gas.

“They have been paying a small amount. So, when they pay us nine per cent, we just calculate nine per cent of our gas invoice and send it to the gas supplier because that is the only way to survive. We are all sharing in the poverty that NBET is giving us.”

The halt in supply has disrupted the energy sector, leading to growing concerns about energy shortages and operational instability nationwide.

Already on Wednesday, Nigerians were plunged into darkness following another collapse of the national power grid.

This is the 12th time the grid would collapse in the year.

Our correspondent reports that the grid went off at about 1:36 pm on Wednesday afternoon.

It was observed that power generation was 0.00 megawatts as of 2 pm.

Source: The Punch