Selling the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to profitable investors is the only option, according to the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), to increase its efficiency.
This was said by Gbenga Alade, the AMCON Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, at a Monday interactive session with media executives in Lagos.
He informed the media that he had examined the matters before AMCON since taking office five months prior, and that the electricity industry was one of them.
According to the head of AMCON, an economy cannot advance and thrive in the absence of a reliable electricity source. He mentioned that although the company has made an effort to address the problems affecting the IBEDC, the process is still ongoing.
BrandSpur business and economy news recalls that AMCON acquired the IBEDC in January 2022 as a result of the latter’s insolvency.
This came after a court ruling in September 2021 that awarded AMCON, the receiver/manager of Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Limited, preservation orders.
Speaking further, Alade revealed that investors with “deep pockets” would purchase the Disco, which AMCON is managing.
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According to him: “In the power sector, we have Ibadan DisCo, which is under AMCON. We’ve tried as much as possible to get that resolved. And we’re in the process. We are yet to conclude the sale, but we are making very good headway in resolving Ibadan DisCo.”
Alade said he was hopeful about the IBEDC’s profitability if it were sold, pointing out that it covers several states, including the industrial zones of Ogun.
Continuing, he had this to say: “I believe that Ibadan Disco is the largest disco that we have because it goes across so many states like Ogun, including all the industrial areas of Ogun State. We believe that it can be made more efficient if sold to people with deep pockets who can invest, not people who just buy and not invest; they don’t have money to invest.
“With people who have deep pockets to invest in making that company more efficient and more effective, it will go a long way to helping the power sector,” he added.
In April, Discos whose original investors/owners were taken over by banks and the Assets Management Corporation were ordered to be sold by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu. At the moment, AMCON and the banks are in charge of four Discos.
Apart from the IBEDC, the United Bank of Africa oversees the management of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, while Fidelity Bank is in charge of the Benin, Kaduna, and Kano DisCos.
Due to their incapacity to pay back the loans they received from the financial institutions, the four Discos are now managed by these new people.
Adelabu mentioned that the company had finished a power project in Kaduna State, which will support the power industry.
Adelabu added: “We also looked at the Kaduna power project as well, which has been abandoned for a few years. By God’s grace, we were able to sign an MoU with the project people. Work has already started on that project as well.”
