- Federal High Court halts boards building process.
- Director-General of BPE, Alex Okoh, says BPE is involved due to 40% shareholding of the Government in the BEDC.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has made known its stance on the new management of the five distribution companies undergoing restructuring. The decision to create new boards has impacted Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and four other companies.
In equal measure, the remaining Discos boards were recreated in Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan, and Port Harcourt. The Federal High Court granted BEDC an interim order on July 8, 2022, to halt the board’s rebuilding process.
The order was obtained after the new boards had been formed on July 5, 2022, according to a statement released yesterday by the Director-General of BPE, Alex Okoh.
He said, “Following this unfortunate development, it has become imperative for Council (National Council on Privatisation) to educate both the staff of BEDC and the public; particularly those within the BEDC franchise area comprising Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states of the steps taken by the Federal Government regarding the Board composition of the various Electricity Distribution Companies across the country which were concluded on July 2022”.
“Fidelity Bank informed Council, vide its Secretariat, the Bureau of Public Enterprises, that they have activated the call on the collateralised shares of Vigeo Power Limited in BEDC.
“Fidelity Bank’s action is a contractual and commercial intervention between the Core Investor (Vigeo Power Limited) and the lender. BPE is involved because of the 40% shareholding of the Government in the BEDC.
“Federal Government, to safeguard the industry and also support the Market Stabilization through restructuring and repositioning to better serve the franchise area’s citizens, decided to appoint a new Board for BEDC.”