In spite of a subsisting court order restraining a takeover and occupation of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), two men purportedly appointed into the Board of the company by the regulatory authorities had broken into the premises in Benin, Edo state capital to assume office.
Messers Henry Ajagbawa and K.C. Akuma in company of three other persons (Adeola Ijose, Charles Onwera and Yomi Adeyemi) had made a forcible entry on Wednesday, July 13, 2022.
Persecondnews recalls that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) had recently announced a “putative restructuring’’ of the boards of five DisCos which the Discos alleged to have been done without inviting any of them to a meeting prior to the announcement widely published in the media.
The duo had explained that the announcement followed Fidelity Bank’s activation of the call on the collateralised shares of Kano Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company and BEDC Electricity Plc (the DisCos) in a bid to take over the respective Boards of the DisCos over the alleged inability to repay loans obtained to acquire majority stakes in the DisCos in furtherance of the 2013 privatisation exercise.
Henry Ajagbawa and others who had refused service of the court order by court bailiffs on the premises of BEDC in the presence of the press, also forcefully broke into the office of the Managing Director and the Boardroom of the company, boasting of “government’s protection.’’
Journalists who arrived at the scene were also refused entry into the 4th floor of the office complex where the illegal takeover took place.
Consequently, the management of BEDC had issued a press statement explaining that there was no contractual, statutory or regulatory basis for the takeover and appointments.
The company stated: “For the avoidance of doubt, the shares of BEDC have not been given as security to Fidelity Bank or to any other party.”
According to the management of BEDC, it was “Vigeo Holdings Limited (VHL – a non-shareholder of BEDC)” that “obtained credit facilities from Stanbic IBTC Bank Limited, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Keystone Bank Plc (the VHL Lenders).”
“It noted further that the said credit facilities (and any enforcement action in relation thereto) have in the meantime become subject of litigation in a court action instituted by VHL and other plaintiffs (the VHL Action) with Suit No: FHC/L/CS/239/22 – Vigeo Holdings Limited and 4 Ors v. Stanbic IBTC Bank Limited, and therefore, subjudiced.”
Worried by the development, Vigeo Power Limited, the majority shareholder of BEDC, had filed a suit and obtained injunctive orders of the Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain Fidelity Bank Plc, Henry Ajagbawa, and the other co-defendants from taking over BEDC pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice dated July 8, 2022.
The other defendants are Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), K.C. Akuma, Adeola Ijose, Charles Onwera, Henry Ajagbawa and Yomi Adeyemi.
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