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Abdulazeez Abubakar
6 days ago
Overview
AMCON sells Ibadan DisCo for ₦100bn amidst legal shutdown
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has disclosed that it sold the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) for ₦100 billion, nearly double the amount originally proposed earlier in the sale process.
The announcement represents the culmination of a process that began in April 2024 when the federal government directed AMCON and a consortium of banks to orchestrate the sale of five electricity distribution companies (DisCos): IBEDC, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, and Kano Electricity Distribution Company.
“At the time we took over management, IBEDC had already been marked for sale,” according to Gbenga Alake, AMCON’s managing director and chief executive officer.
Alake explained, “But we intervened, rejected the initial offer, and pushed for a better bid. Ultimately, we secured nearly twice the value initially proposed”.
Alake is confident in the deal’s validity and underlying process.
“We have sold it… and whatever is still happening in court, we will face it,” he said.
The backdrop to this sale is a lawsuit filed on May 15, 2025 by the African Initiative Against Abuse of Public Trust—an anti-corruption civil society organisation.
The group petitioned the Federal High Court in Abuja, filing suit FHC/ABJ/CS/866/2025, against AMCON, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and IBEDC.
The suit alleges the sale was conducted “secretively and illegally,” and claims the stake—reportedly 60 percent—of IBEDC was undervalued at $62 million (approximately ₦52 billion at current exchange rates).
This starkly contrasts with the $169 million paid during IBEDC’s initial privatisation in 2013, allegedly representing a loss of $107 million in public resources.
IBEDC, one of Nigeria’s 11 distribution utilities, came under AMCON’s management in early 2022 following a takeover of its investor’s asset due to loan default.
In February 2023, a Federal High Court in Lagos temporarily blocked AMCON from selling the company, citing pending litigation regarding its authority to dispose of the assets.
Despite continued legal constraints, AMCON has pursued the sale under the federal government’s strategic direction.
https://businessday.ng/energy/power/article/amcon-sells-ibadan-disco-for-%E2%82%A6100bn-amidst-legal-shutdown/
