The Federal Government has flagged off the process of unbundling 11 electricity distribution companies to pitch them up for efficiency.
This was revealed by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, in his address, while playing host to the Senate Committee on Power, led by their Chairman, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, in Abuja.
Adelabu stated that the privatization of the firms would not be reversed, but stressed that the Discos would be broken into more efficient structures along state lines to be able to deliver on their mandates.
He also revealed that over 100 projects of the Transmission Company of Nigeria have not been completed since 2001. This came as the Federal Government also ordered the sale of Discos that had been taken over by banks and the Assets Management Corporation from their original investors/owners.
Currently, four Discos are under the management of banks and AMCON.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company is under the management of the United Bank of Africa (UBA), while Fidelity Bank manages Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, and Kano Electricity Distribution Company.
The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company is under the AMCON management.
The four Discos are under these new managements due to their inability to repay their loans to the financial institutions.
The government stated that those who acquired the Discos when the firms were officially privatized in November 2013, lacked the required expertise and financial capacity to run the companies.