The sale of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Nigeria’s largest power distribution company is poised to worsen the ongoing power crisis in the country, thereby inflicting more damage on over 30 million customers amid risk of absorbing a huge loss.
The distribution company has been sold for one hundred billion naira (₦100 billion), a number contrasting with its over one trillion naira assets valuation.
Written all over the process is secrecy harboring corrupt practices and shady dealings without consideration for consumers’ interests.
The deal, overseen by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and allegedly facilitated by some top officials of the Ministry of Power, alongside complicit staff from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), is seeming to be nothing but a giveaway of a national asset. Who sells a property for just a tenth of its value if not having sketchy reasons?
For a firm like IBEDC shouldering power supply to over 30 million households olds across seven states; Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, and parts of Kogi, Niger, and Ekiti, its take-over by AMCON in 2022 after its former board defaulted to Polaris Bank on a massive debt was expected to expedite return to normalcy and financial stability, rather it has undermined public trust, leaving defaulted loans to be serviced through high tariff rates amid poor supply.
As the second-best performing electricity distribution company (DisCo) in Nigeria with sprawling infrastructure which underscores its critical role in the nation’s power sector, IBEDC’s worth can never be overestimated. Yet, its sale price is vehemently contradictory to its real worth.
The finger of blame should be pointed squarely at AMCON, rushing the deal to favor preferred bidders, with support from BPE and NERC staff allegedly greased by political affiliations. The process, shrouded in secrecy, bypassed competitive bidding norms, raising suspicions of insider collusion.
In the real sense, IBEDC’s ₦100 billion price tag is but a pinch of salt in the AMCON’s ₦4 trillion debt recovery target, leaving the public to absorb the loss.
Meanwhile, the company’s new owners seemed to be riding on a goodwill as they inherited a network poised for profit—if properly managed—while its over 20 million customers face uncertainty amid Nigeria’s ongoing power crisis.
The outcry is quite clear and unambiguous; a demand for the cancellation of this fraudulent and shady deal, while calling for the relaunch of a transparent process reflecting IBEDC’s true ₦1 trillion-plus value.
However, the question remains, “will accountability prevail or will this be another chapter in the plundering of Nigeria’s wealth?” The onus is on AMCON, BPE, NERC, and the Minister of Power. So, also is the EFCC and ICPC expected to play their anti-corruption roles to foster transparency, fairness and accountability.
Olamilekan Raji is a public commentator.
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