By Yahaya Umar
Amidst several controversies raising from legal tussle, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria ,AMCON, has sell the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company ,IBEDC, to an undisclosed bidder after paying about N100 billion.
Speaking during a media parley, AMCON’s Managing Director and CEO, Gbenga Alake, revealed that the transaction, part of a broader federal government initiative to privatize five power distribution companies, is already facing resistance.
In April 2024, the federal government announced plans to divest from five DisCos managed by AMCON and commercial banks. IBEDC is one of five power distribution companies that the federal government announced in April 2024 it would be selling.
The others include Abuja Electricity Distribution Company ,AEDC, Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, and Kano Electricity Distribution Company.
These firms had been under the administration of AMCON and commercial banks following debt recovery proceedings
The corporation also accused debtors of undermining the Nigerian economy, alleging that many never intended to repay the loans they secured from various banks.
The Chief Executive of AMCON, Mr Gbenga Alade, at a media parley in Lagos on Thursday, explained that the sale to the undisclosed bidder is a major step in the federal government’s ongoing divestment from distressed electricity distribution companies.
According to him, IBEDC’s divestment is almost completed and that AMCON would soon hand over the company to the preferred bidder, whose name can’t be revealed yet, noting that the transaction, which is part of the federal government’s wider power sector reforms, will soon be concluded with the handover of IBEDC to the preferred bidder.
“Today, I announce to you that Ibadan DisCo has been sold,” Mr Alake declared.
He continued: “When we came in, it had already been sold. It was sold for how much? We got in and said no, it cannot be. We said they should go and submit a new offer, that we were not going to sell for that. At the end of the day, we got almost double of what Ibadan DisCo was going to be sold for”.
He acknowledged that sale has not been without controversy, adding that the deal has attracted legal challenges, describing the current landscape as one riddled with “so many interests now fighting and writing”.
On recalcitrant debtors, the AMCON boss noted that going after them is a tall order that requires unflinching determination.
“Dealing with AMCON’s recalcitrant debtors is not easy, but dealing with such debtors who are in government, holding very high positions across different decision-making portfolios in governance in the country, is one of the most challenging tasks that I have ever faced in my career but we are not deterred by these antics.
“Our appointment is a call to serve the motherland and we will deliver that with all humility and sincerity of purpose. If you recall, the last time we met, we told you there was a ban on asset sales.
“But today, with the Board now in place, the sale of assets by AMCON has been lifted, and consequently, we have sold some high-profile assets running into several billions of Naira”, Mr Alade stated.
Recall that on May 15, a civil society organisation, the African Initiative Against Abuse of Public Trust, filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja (FHC/ABJ/CS/866/2025) against AMCON, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission ,NERC, the Bureau of Public Enterprises ,BPE, and IBEDC.
The CSO described the sale as “secretive and illegal,” alleging that the $62m (approximately N100bn) paid for a 60 per cent stake in IBEDC represented a “corrupt undervaluation”.
They argued the federal government is poised to lose $107m, citing the $169m paid for the same stake during the 2013 privatisation exercise.
Despite the controversy, AMCON maintains that the process was transparent and financially beneficial to the public. The official handover to the new investors is expected soon.
