Abuja – The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has approved the constitution of an interim management team for the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
Those appointed are Mr
Bada Akinwumi, Managing Director, Mr Sani Usman, Chief Business Officer; Mr Babajide Ibironke, Chief Finance Officer; Mr Donald Etim, Chief Marketing Officer and Mr Femi Zachaeus, Chief Technical Officer.
All the new team members are to occupy the positions in the interim.
The constitution of the interim management team followed the earlier dissolution of the former management team to pave a way for the resolution of the lingering ownership crisis rocking the board of the electricity distribution company.
The dispute involving other shareholders and the AEDC’s majority shareholder/core investor , KANN Utility Company Limited later spilled over to the UBA Plc, the lender that provided the acquisition loan to KANN.
During the crisis, AEDC was unable to provide quality service to consumers and also failed to meet up with payment of salary and allowances to its workers.
The crisis got to a head on December 6 when power supply to Niger, Abuja, Kogi and Nasarawa was totally disrupted for 14 hours by workers protesting poor welfare , including non payment if salary and allowances.
The action attracted the attention of the Federal Government which intervened to restore normalcy.
Puting the records straight, The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said the constitution of an interim governing board for AEDC was not done at the instance of Federal Government as reported by a section of the media.
” It was not done based on the Federal Government directive, but hinged on sound legal processes,” a statement signed by the NERC’s Chairman, Mr Sanusi Garba and BPE’s Director -General, Mr Alex Okoh, said.
It explained that a legal processes arose from the failure of the core investor in AEDC to meet its obligations to the UBA which later went to court to protect its interest.
” Arising from KANN’s inability to service its acquisition loan and the ensuing dispute over the servicing of loan from UBA Plc, the lender exercised its rights in appointing a Receiver/Manager over KANN,” the statement.( vitalnews)
