- NERC supports BEDC’s new management.
- BEDC’s interim management tussle with Osibodu-Led investors.
The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) was at the weekend retaken by the interim management backed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Federal Ministry of Power.
The sector’s regulator, NERC, supported the interim board, which consisted of Messrs. Henry Ajagbawa, K.C. Akuma, Adeola Jose, Charles Onwera, and Yomi Adeyemi, on September 3, 2022. The interim board and management had previously been forcibly removed by the key investors, who were claimed to have failed on the loan repayment to a group of banks.
However, it was seen in new recordings taken at the takeover scene that a well-organized squad, primarily made up of police officers, managed to retake the Disco despite resistance from the Mrs Funke Osibodu-led BEDC administration.
Days after the displaced management’s takeover was supported by the NERC, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and the Ministry of Power; it had reclaimed control and driven out the interim board and management.
In response to the most recent development, the Osibodu-led company explained that on Friday, September 16, 2022, after work had ended and most employees had left the building, a “battalion” of about 30 fully armed police officers wearing camouflage and regular police uniforms broke into the BEDC headquarters in Benin City.
Last month, NERC reaffirmed its support for BEDC’s acquisition by its creditor bank, distancing itself from recent moves made by the company’s previous management. Insisting that the duty, carried out in the public interest, trumps any alleged private interests, NERC said it has a legal obligation to the power market.