The Federal Government -run Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) says the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has been sold.
AMCON Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Gbenga Alade, broke the news at a media parley with media executives on Thursday.
Reputedly, IBEDC covers the largest franchise area in Nigeria, made up of –Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and parts of Niger, Ekiti and Kogi states.
In April 2024, the Federal Government said it would sell five power distribution companies under the management of banks and AMCON.
Ibadan DisCo, managed by AMCON, is one of five listed firms.
The other four are the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KAEDC), and Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).
Speaking at the conference, Alade said the company was sold for N100 billion.
He said AMCON will soon hand over the power firm to the preferred bidder.
Alade said: “Today, I announce to you that Ibadan DisCo has been sold. When we came in, it has already been sold. It was sold for how much?” the AMCON boss said.
“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 DisCos was going to be sold for.”
Alade said the sale has triggered legal battles, with “so many interests now fighting and writing”.
He said that while the matter is in court, AMCON is very positive that the right thing was done.
“We have sold it… and whatever is still happening in court, we will face it.”
On May 15, reports circulated that the African Initiative Against Abuse of Public Trust, a civil society organisation (CSO), had filed a lawsuit before the Federal High Court in Abuja against AMCON, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and the Ibadan DisCo over an alleged proposed sale of a 60 percent stake in IBEDC for $62 million.
The CSO, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/866/2025, described the sale as “secretive and illegal,” adding that the alleged amount is “corruptly undervalued”.
The African Initiative also claimed that the deal would lead to a loss of $107 million compared to the $169 million paid for the same stake during the 2013 privatisation of IBEDC.
