Following the poor performance of power distribution companies in the country, especially the Benin, Kaduna and Kano electricity distribution companies that were the worst-performing Discos among the 11 power distributors in Nigeria, the Federal Government has decided to sell the shares to new investors.
The government, through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), had resolved to sell the majority interest in the three Discos to competent investors.
Director-General of BPE, Alex Okoh, disclosed this in a statement he  signed,  and made available to journalists on Friday, in reaction to the resistance by some Discos on the move by Fidelity Bank and the government to take over and restructure poor-performing Discos.
In the statement, the receiver/manager’s nominee of Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company had argued that it was the legal and beneficial owner of 60 per cent (controlling and managing) shareholding interests in the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company.
Also, the management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company Plc had argued that there was no legal basis for the takeover of the company following the purported activation of the call on its collateralised shares by Fidelity Bank.
Both firms had disclosed this in reaction to the announcement of the Federal Government on Tuesday regarding the takeover of Kano, Benin and Kaduna electricity distribution companies by Fidelity Bank Plc after the bank initiated action to take over the boards of the three Discos.
The government had also announced, through its BPE, that with the takeover of Ibadan Disco by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, the BPE had obtained approval from NERC to appoint an interim Managing Director for the distressed power firm.
The government had  further stated in its  restructuring notice that it was restructuring the management and board of Port Harcourt Disco to forestall the imminent insolvency of the utility in a notice, signed by the Director-General, BPE, Alex Okoh, and Executive Chairman, NERC, Sanusi Garba.
But the government’s stance was confronted by resistance by some affected power firms, a development that made the BPE declare on Friday that it would go-ahead to sell the majority interest in Benin, Kaduna and Kano Discos.
“It is envisaged that the majority interest in these Discos would be sold to competent private sector investors with the requisite technical and financial capacity to re-capitalise and manage these entities efficiently.

“As an interim measure, NERC and BPE met on an emergency basis and activated the business continuity process and appointed interim Managing Directors in the affected Discos,” the statement affirmed.

By: Corlins Walter