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…We’re not in receivership –Firms insist
By Adewale Sanyaolu
The crisis plaguing Nigeria’s power sector has deepened, as FBN Holdings, through its subsidiary FBNQuest Trustees Limited, has taken steps to assume control of three major power firms: Egbin Power, Ikeja Electric, and First Independent Power Limited (FIPL).
FBNQuest Trustees Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings, through the court, has appointed a Receiver/Manager for KEPCO Energy Resources Limited, a special purpose vehicle for Sahara Energy Resources Group Limited, owners of Egbin Power, Ikeja Electric, and First Independent Power Limited (FIPL).
This brings to six the number of Nigeria’s 11 electricity distribution companies under receivership, raising concerns about the integrity of the 2013 power sector privatisation exercise.
In executing the takeover, FBNQuest has appointed Kunle Ogunba and Associates as its Receiver/Manager.
Justice Akintayo Aluko ordered banks and regulators to freeze the companies’ assets and accounts.
When a company falls into receivership, it means a court-appointed or privately appointed receiver takes control of the company’s assets and operations.
As a consequence, the company’s management and directors lose control over assets and operations.
KEPCO owns 70 percent of Egbin Power, Nigeria’s largest electricity generation company.
In 2023, the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) approved a scheme of external restructuring proposed by KEPCO Energy Resources Nigeria Limited (KERNL), the core investor in Egbin Power Plant, to enable it to boost its capacity to raise the required capital to double the existing capacity of the plant to 2,640MW.
But in a reaction, Ikeja Electric, in a statement on behalf of the three power firms—Egbin Power Plc, Ikeja Electric Plc, and First Independent Power Limited, all subsidiaries of the Sahara Energy Resources Group—said they were not in receivership.
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The statement further refuted reports sourced from what it described as misleading advertorials published in a national daily (not Daily Sun) on August 6, 2025, alleging the appointment of “Kunle Ogunba Esq. SAN” as Receiver/Manager over the entities.
The management of the power companies said the publications, contrary to a subsisting court ruling, erroneously claimed the appointment of a Receiver/Manager over KEPCO Energy Resource Nigeria Limited, NG Power-HPS Limited, and New Electricity Distribution Company, with operating companies as follows: KEPCO (Egbin Power), NG Power-HPS Limited (FIPL), and New Electricity Distribution Company (Ikeja Electric).
“We state unequivocally and for the record that Egbin Power Plc, First Independent Power Limited, and Ikeja Electric Plc are absolutely not in receivership, and their assets, businesses, or undertakings are not under the management of any external Receiver/Manager whatsoever,” Babatunde Osadare, Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, Ikeja Electric, said on behalf of the power companies’ management.
Osadare said the claims were not only false, but “represent a gross misrepresentation of facts and a malicious attempt at self-help designed to subvert the course of justice.”
According to him, in definitive rulings delivered on August 5, 2025 (Suit Nos. FHC/L/CS/1242, FHC/L/CS/1244, FHC/L/CS/1245), the Honourable Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos explicitly restrained the lenders and their purported Receiver/Manager from taking any adverse actions.
Osadare said the rulings specifically prohibit the purported Receiver/Manager from: accelerating the disputed loan facility before its maturity; interfering in any manner with the assets, businesses, or undertakings of the power entities, including operational accounts; enforcing any share security over the assets of the power entities or their sponsors, based on the disputed debt; or unilaterally enforcing any finance documents related to the disputed debt.
“We therefore urge the general public, our valued customers, financial partners, regulators, and all stakeholders to completely disregard the falsehoods presented in the aforementioned advertorials and any related, unfolding misleading press releases.
The core matters referenced are actively being litigated, and the lenders, represented by the purported Receiver/Manager, have formally submitted to the court’s jurisdiction,” Osadare said.
Reassuring all stakeholders, Osadare said the power companies emphatically reaffirm their steadfast commitment to the development of the nation’s power sector and their vital role of responsibly powering homes, communities, and businesses across the nation.
He added: “Egbin Power, First Independent Power, and Ikeja Electric remain fully operational, financially stable, and firmly under the control of their legitimate management. Our focus remains unwavering on our core mission: providing reliable electricity and driving the growth of Nigeria’s critical power sector. We have full confidence in the Nigerian judicial system to fairly resolve the underlying disputes.”
