-
Silent on preferred bidder
By Uche Usim
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) on Thursday confirmed the sale of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) for N100 billion.
The sale, made to an undisclosed bidder, is a major step in the federal government’s ongoing divestment from distressed electricity distribution companies.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of AMCON, Gbenga Alade, made the disclosure during a media parley with senior journalists in Lagos.
He noted 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,” Alade 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.”
The sale, however, has not been without controversy. Alade acknowledged that the deal has attracted legal challenges, describing the current landscape as one riddled with “so many interests now fighting and writing.”
Despite the legal hurdles, the AMCON boss expressed confidence in the integrity of the process. “We have sold it… and whatever is still happening in court, we will face it,” he said.
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.
Meanwhile, the African Initiative Against Abuse of Public Trust, a civil society organisation (CSO), has filed a lawsuit before the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging the deal. In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/866/2025, the group alleges that the proposed sale of a 60 percent stake in IBEDC for $62 million was “secretive and illegal.”
The CSO claims the transaction undervalues the asset, asserting that the stake was worth $169 million during the 2013 privatisation exercise. “The deal, if allowed, would result in a loss of $107 million,” the group said, calling for judicial intervention to halt the sale.
Despite the mounting legal and public scrutiny, AMCON appears poised to proceed, maintaining that the process was fair, transparent, and financially beneficial to the Nigerian government.