Nigeria: Akinwumi Resigns As AEDC Interim Managing Director

The Interim Managing Director of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Engr Akinwumi BADA has allegedly resigned from his post.

Nigeria-based Optimum Times reported Engr Akinwumi’s resignation, citing unnamed impeccable sources as confirming his resignation.

According to the portal, Adeoye Fadeyibi, who is the Managing Director and CEO of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), has been appointed to head AEDC following the resignation of Engr Akinwumi Bada.

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) announced Bada Akinwumi as the Interim Managing Director of AEDC in December 2021 when the UBA Bank disengaged its previous management after KANN, which is the core investor failed to pay loans it secured from UBA.

His appointment was approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the apex regulator of the power sector.

Other members of the team were Sani Usman, Interim Chief Business Officer; Babajide Ibironke, Interim Chief Finance Officer; Donald Etim, Interim Chief Marketing Officer, and Femi Zacchaeus as Interim Chief Technical Officer.

Chairman of NERC, Sanusi Garba, in approving the appointments, said the development is in pursuance of the earlier fit and proper review of BPE’s pool of nominees and the context of the business continuity framework of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

NERC and BPE, in a joint statement signed by NERC Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and Director General of BPE, Alex Okoh, stated that there had been an ongoing dispute amongst competing factions of AEDC’s majority shareholder/core investor KANN Utility Company Limited (KANN).

“The dispute eventually spilt over with the lender that provided the acquisition loan to KANN for the acquisition of majority shares during the privatisation exercise in 2013, over KANN’s inability to service its debt to the bank.

“The United Bank for Africa (UBA) had acted as Mandated Lead Arranger, underwriting the entire facility of US$ 122 million (about N20 billion) for KANN utility acquisition of AEDC.”

The statement further cited that the protracted disagreements among the core investors resulted in AEDC not only struggling to meet its obligations to the market under the terms and conditions of its licence but was also unable to meet its obligations to key stakeholders in the organisation, including staff.

The statement stated that this culminated in the industrial action by members of the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) which resulted in a total service disruption on December 6, for over 14 hours in AEDC’s network area.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com