The Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has stated that selling the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to capable investors is the only way to enhance its efficiency.
AMCON’s Managing Director/CEO, Gbenga Alade, made this statement during an interactive session with media executives in Lagos.
Alade emphasized the crucial role of a stable power supply in economic growth, highlighting the challenges faced by IBEDC.
Despite efforts to resolve these issues, the process remains ongoing.
In January 2022, AMCON took over IBEDC due to insolvency, following a court judgment in September 2021 that granted preservative orders in favor of AMCON as the receiver/manager of Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Limited.
Speaking, Alade disclosed that the Disco being managed by AMCON would be sold to investors with ”deep pockets”.
“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,” he said.
Alade expressed optimism that the IBEDC would be profitable if sold, saying it covers different states, including Ogun industrial areas.
”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 noted.
Recall that the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, in April ordered the sale of Discos that have been taken over by banks and the Assets Management Corporation from its original investors/owners.
Currently, four Discos are under the management of banks and AMCON.
Aside from the IBEDC, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company is under the management of the United Bank of Africa, while Fidelity Bank manages Benin, Kaduna, and Kano DisCos.
The four Discos are under these new managements due to their inability to repay their loans to the financial institutions.
To bolster the power sector, the AMCON boss noted that the corporation has completed a power project in Kaduna State.
“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,” he maintained.
