- According to NERC and BPE, the FG did not make the decision to appoint interim AEDC management.
- Failure of the core investor, KANN Utility to meet its obligations led to the change.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) have refuted the allegations in the press that the Federal Government ordered the directive for the appointment of an interim management team for Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
In a report by the Independent Newspaper, NERC and BPE noted that the action to appoint an interim team to manage AEDC was informed by the legal processes arising from the failure of the core investor in AEDC, KANN Utility Company Limited, to meet its obligations to a lender.
This statement was noted by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Bureau of Public enterprises on Saturday and signed by NERC Chairman, Sanusi Garba and Director-General BPE, Alex A. Okoh. AEDC is the licensed utility that serves end-use customers in Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, and the FCT.
Part of the statement read: “Facts are that arising from KANN’s inability to service its acquisition loan and the ensuing dispute over the servicing of the loan from UBA Plc, the lender exercised its rights by appointing a Receiver/Manager over KANN. “Stakeholders, including NERC, CBN, and BPE, had on several times worked to broker an amicable resolution between the contending parties. “The protracted resolution of the dispute exacerbated the state of affairs at AEDC, resulting in an industrial action and a total blackout in the service area for over 14 hours. “It then became apparent that decisive steps were required to address the matter and BPE agreed with the lender’s request to exercise its powers as Receiver/Manager over KANN by exercising its powers over the 60% equity in AEDC as a means to recovering its obligations to a lender.
“The action to appoint an interim team to manage AEDC was not done on the basis of a directive from the FG as being falsely reported in the press but on the basis of legal processes arising from the failure of the core investor in AEDC to meet its obligations to a lender. “The Receiver/Manager has agreed to the appointment of an interim management team in conjunction with BPE as part of measures designed to address business failure events and ensure continuity of service to end-use customers in the service area.”