DisCos Restructuring: FG assures consumers of stable power supply

The Federal Government has assured that the current restructuring of indebted DisCos will not affect service delivery to Nigerians.

This was disclosed by Minister of Power, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

The Minister also noted that the changes will also not affect the roll out of the National Mass Metering Programme.

What the Minister is saying

The Minister said the changes announced in the governance of the DisCos were as a result of the receivership of the core investors in Kano, Benin, Kaduna and lbadan DisCos, resulting in change of management.

Aliyu said, “Whereas the actions in Port Harcourt DisCo are sought to provide much needed liquidity and prevent the insolvency and risk of collapse of the utility in implementing the changes.

“The Government will continue to hold a 40 per cent equity stake in all the DisCos.

“The utilities are still private sector led “going concerns” falling under theprovisions of the COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT (CAMA) and subject to regulation by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

“The ministry had received a confirmation from the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and the Central Bank of Nigeria that in exercising the rights of lenders to the core investors.

“The financial institutions do not retain the ownership of the shares and management of the DisCos in perpetuity.

‘“It is therefore expected that clear timelines for exit of the banks would be prescribed by the regulators as and when appropriate.”

Background

The Federal Government had announced the restructuring and take-over of 3 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) across the country by some banks due to their inability to meet up with the repayment of their debt obligations.

Fidelity Bank listed the new board members of the affected DisCos to include; Kano DISCO, Benin DISCO and Kaduna DISCO.

BPE nominated Bashir Gwandu (Kano), Yomi Adeyemi (Benin), and Umar Abdullahi (Kaduna) as independent Directors to represent Federal Government’s 40% interest in the 3 DISCOs respectively, during this transition.

Also, NERC and BPE met on an emergency basis and activated the Business Continuity Process and have appointed Ahmad Dangana, Henry Ajagbawa and Yusuf Usman Yahaya as interim Managing Directors of Kano DisCo, Benin DisCo and Kaduna DisCo respectively.

The statement also says that with the take-over of Ibadan DisCo by AMCON, the BPE has obtained approval from NERC to appoint Kingsley Achife as interim Managing Director as well as the restructuring of the management and board of Port Harcourt DisCo to forestall the imminent solvency of the entity.