Clean Sweep in Abuja Disco, CEO, Others Removed

NERC says distribution firms collected N100bn revenue in November

There has been a major management shakeup in the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) with the removal of key management staff by the majority owner of the company, Transcorp Power Limited, which holds a 60 per cent stake in the Distribution Company (Disco).

Following the development, the Chief Executive, Christopher Ezeafulukwe and a number of his key lieutenants were relieved of their duties, effective immediately.

In a statement, the AEDC stated that the move was in furtherance of the implementation of the board-approved turnaround plan to reposition AEDC as the clear market leader in the Nigerian electricity distribution space.

In Ezeafulukwe's place, Victor Ojelabi, who signed the statement has now been appointed as the acting Managing Director/CEO, while the new Chief Technical Officer is Godfrey Abah.

Abah, the statement said, will be responsible for overseeing and managing all aspects of the company's technical operations to ensure efficient operations and optimal network performance.

It added that the Chief Business Officer role has been restructured to provide the right executive attention and drive AEDC's districts to ensure end-to-end energy accounting and improve customer experience, with Leticia Ejendu having been appointed as one of the three Chief Business Officers.

In addition, Ibem Idika has been appointed Head, Human Resources, while Irene Nwankwo has been appointed Chief Internal Auditor, effective immediately.

Branding and Corporate Communication will now be headed by Mimi Angyu, while Regulatory and Government Relation will be overseen by Sasi Jaja.

“Their appointments will strengthen our executive management cadre and add significant value to the company's strategic objectives. Further announcements will be made as we fill up all the critical role,” the AEDC said.

The AEDC began operations in November 2013 and within a 10-year period has had six managing directors, it was learnt.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in a factsheet, has said that the 11 Discos raked in N99.94 billion from its customers in November 2023.

According to the electricity sector regulator, this amount was out of the total of N133.3 billion worth of electricity billed to customers during the period under consideration.

NERC stated that the average amount paid for a Kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity consumed during the period was 36.71kWh from the average 59.89kWh approved for the Discos.

In all, Ikeja Electric had the highest billing with N20.94 billion, from which it collected N20.17 billion, to hit 96.3 per cent collection rate. It was followed by

Eko Electric with N20.09 billion, but which received N16.81bn from its customers. This represented an 83.72 per cent collection rate.

AEDC was next with N19.61 billion, out of which N15.34 billion was collected, representing a 78.24 per cent collection rate, while Ibadan Electric followed with N15.69 billion billing and N11 billion collection in November.