The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has officially confirmed the sale of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), one of the five power distribution companies formerly under its management. Gbenga Alake, AMCON’s Managing Director and CEO, announced the sale during a media briefing with senior journalists on Thursday, July 3.
Alake revealed that IBEDC was sold for ₦100 billion and that AMCON will soon transfer ownership to the preferred bidder. He explained that the initial offer for the company was rejected for being too low, leading to a resubmission that nearly doubled the previous valuation.
“Today, I announce that Ibadan DisCo has been sold. When we took over, it had already been sold for a certain amount,” Alake said. “We said no, it cannot be sold at that price. We requested a new offer, and in the end, we received almost double the original amount.”
However, the sale has triggered legal disputes. Alake acknowledged that several parties have taken the matter to court but maintained that AMCON is confident it followed all due processes.
“We have completed the sale, and whatever issues remain in court, we will address them,” he stated.
The federal government had earlier declared its intention to divest from five distribution companies under the management of banks and AMCON. Besides IBEDC, these include Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, and Kano Electricity Distribution Company.
In May, the African Initiative Against Abuse of Public Trust, a civil society group, filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja against AMCON, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and IBEDC. The suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/866/2025) alleges that the planned sale of a 60 percent stake in IBEDC for $62 million was conducted “secretively and illegally,” describing the transaction as “corruptly undervalued.”
The group claims the sale could cause a loss of $107 million to the Nigerian government compared to the $169 million valuation of the same stake during the 2013 privatisation exercise.
