Nigerian Assets Company AMCON Sells Ibadan Electricity Firm, IBEDC For N100billion Despite Lawsuit

The Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) has confirmed the sale of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) for N100 billion, even as a lawsuit challenging the transaction continues in court.

Gbenga Alake, managing director and chief executive officer of AMCON, disclosed this during a parley with media executives on Thursday. 

He said the sale fetched nearly double the amount initially offered.

“Today, I announce to you that Ibadan DisCo has been sold. When we came in, it has already been sold. It was sold for how much?” Alake said. “We got in and said no, it cannot be. 

We said they should go and submit a new offer that we were not going to sell for that. At the end of the day, we got almost double of what Ibadan DisCos was going to be sold for.” 

He explained that the company would soon be handed over to the preferred bidder, but noted that the sale has sparked legal battles.

“There are so many interests now fighting and writing,” Alake said. “We have sold it… and whatever is still happening in court, we will face it.”

In April 2024, the Nigerian government had announced plans to sell five power distribution companies under the management of banks and AMCON. 

These included IBEDC, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, and Kano Electricity Distribution Company.

However, on May 15, reports emerged that the African Initiative Against Abuse of Public Trust, a civil society organisation, filed a lawsuit before the Federal High Court in Abuja against AMCON, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and Ibadan DisCo.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/866/2025, the group described the sale as “secretive and illegal,” claiming the stake was “corruptly undervalued”. 

It argued that the proposed $62 million price tag for a 60 percent stake would lead to a loss of $107 million compared to the $169 million paid for the same stake during the 2013 privatisation of IBEDC.