The Federal Government says it would sell off five electricity distribution companies (DisCos) under the management of banks and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in the next three months to technical power operators.

Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, spoke in Abuja on Monday when the members of the senate committee on power visited the ministry.

The five DisCos include Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), currently under the management of the United Bank for Africa (UBA); Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, and Kano Electricity Distribution Company, managed by Fidelity Bank, while Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company is under AMCON management.

The DisCos are under the management of the banks and AMCON due to their debt burden.

Adelabu said the energy distribution assets are technical and as such, they should be under the management of technical experts.

He also said the tough decision on the DisCos has become necessary because the entire Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) fails when they refuse to perform.

According to Adebayo, the ministry will prevail on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to revoke underperforming licenses and also change the management board of the DisCos if it becomes the solution.

“On distribution, very soon you will see that tough decisions will be taken on the DisCos. They are the last lap of the sector. If they don’t perform, the entire sector is not performing,” Adebayo said.

”The entire ministry is not performing. We have put pressure on NERC, which is their regulator to make sure they raise the bar on regulation activities.

”If they have to withdraw licenses for non-performance, why not? If they have to change the board of management, why not?

“And all the DisCos that are still under AMCON and Banks, within the next three months, must be sold to technical power operators with good reputations in utility management.

“We can no longer afford AMCON to run our DisCos. We can no longer afford the banks to run our DisCos. This is a technical industry and it must be run by technical experts.”

The minister further said it has become necessary to reorganise the DisCos for efficiency.

He stressed that Ibadan DisCo is too large for one company to manage.

FG TO REVOKE METRE CONTRACT FROM FIRM

Adelabu also dropped the hint that the federal government mobilised a company named Messr Zigglass with $200 million (N32 billion) to supply three million meters that were yet to be supplied to date.

“If you held N32 billion for these years, where is the interest,” he asked.

According to Adelabu, President Bola Tinubu directed that the contract be revoked.

He said the government will bridge the current eight million metering gap in the next four to five years.

The minister said the funding for the metre is coming from a seed capital of N100 billion and N75 billion.

He added that the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NISA) is coming to the aid of the ministry with the fund.

1. Following the recent rebound of the naira against the dollar, the price of a 50 kilogramme bag of rice has dropped to an average of N67,000 in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun, and others, from about N90,000 in February 2024. In communities close to the borders, our correspondents gathered that the staple was selling at a much lower rate compared to what was obtained in the cities.

2. President Bola Tinubu on Monday said foreigners pump a lot of money to fund illegal mining and terrorism across Africa. The president stressed the need for African countries to strengthen regional cooperation and institution-building to address the evolving threat of terrorism on the continent.

3. The Federal Government on Monday vowed to sell off the five electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) as blackout persists. Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu said banks and the Asset Management Company (AMCON), which have been managing these DisCos, having taken over because of the failure of the management to repay loans, lack the technical capacity.

4. President Bola Tinubu will today embark on an official visit to the Kingdom of the Netherlands for high-level discussions with Prime Minister Mark Rutte. A statement last night in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said the President is visiting on the invitation of Prime Minister Rutte.

5. The Rivers State House of Assembly has passed the Local Government Amendment Bill into law without the assent of Governor Siminalayi Fubara. The Assembly passed the Bill yesterday, despite the State High Court’s order directing the status quo on the issue of elongating the tenure of elected local government officials, which formed part of the amendment.

6. The Binance Regional Manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who escaped from a Nigerian detention facility on March 22, has been arrested in Kenya. The fugitive was reportedly arrested by Kenayan Police Service while he was hiding in the East African country.

7. The naira depreciated in its value against the United States dollar to N1,234 at the official foreign exchange market on Monday, according to data obtained from the FMDQ securities exchange. The exchange rate means the naira fell by N65 or 5.26 per cent from N1,169.99/$1 recorded on Friday.

8. In what appears to be a retaliatory cult clash, one Azeez Olaitan was reportedly killed by suspected members of the Aiye Confraternity in the Alogi area of Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State on Sunday. This is just as the Ogun State Police Command said that the window of amnesty extended to members of various cult groups in the state to surrender their arms and be reintegrated into society was still open.

9. Tragedy struck at Yar’Gwanda village in Tsanyawa local Government area of Kano State at the weekend when a 60-year-old man, Malam Danjuma, his son, Ibrahim, 35, and Aminu Gaye, also 35, died in a pit latrine while trying to recover a cellphone. One of the rescuers, Abba Alasan, 28, was, however, rescued from the latrine.

10. Controversial cross-dresser, Idris Olanrewaju Okuneye, alias Bobrisky, has appealed against the six months imprisonment imposed on him by the Federal High Court in Lagos which convicted him of charges of abuse of naira. In the appeal lodged on his behalf by his lawyer, Bimbo Kusanu, Bobrisky wants the Court of Appeal to convert the six-month imprisonment to N50,000 fine on each of the four counts he was convicted of.

The Rivers house of assembly has passed the local government amendment bill into law despite the refusal of Siminalayi Fubara, governor of the state, to give his assent.

On March 13, the Rivers assembly amended the “Rivers State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018 and other matters connected thereto”.

The house sent the bill to the governor for his assent but he declined.

Section 9 subsections (2), (3) and (4) of the law were amended by the lawmakers.

The amendment empowers the house of assembly via resolution to extend the tenure of elected chairpersons of LGAs and councillors, where it is considered impracticable to hold elections before the expiration of their three-year term in office.

The Rivers assembly said the amendment is to ensure that LGA elections are conducted before the expiration of the outgoing administration.

On April 16, the Rivers high court in Port Harcourt, the state capital, issued an interim injunction directing the house of assembly to maintain the status quo on the move to extend the tenure of elected LGA officials.

The order was sequel to a suit filed by Enyiada Cooky-Gam, executive chairman of Opobo-Nkoro LGA, and eight other elected council officials.

The court fixed April 22, to hear the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

However, despite the court order, the Rivers assembly on Monday passed the LGA amendment bill into law.

The bill was presented to the house by Major Jack, the majority leader.

This is not the first time the Rivers assembly will override the decision of the state governor.

In January, the Rivers assembly overrode the decision of Fubara not to assent to four bills earlier passed by the lawmakers.

In March, the assembly again overrode Fubara on the passage of some bills.