President BUHARI Archives

PUSH NEWS 24 INTERNATIONAL : January, 2022

ABUJA : AFTER 14 HOURS POWER OUTAGE, INABILITY TO PAY DEBT, PMB ACCEPTS SACKING OF THE ENTIRE GAMBIAN MANAGEMENT; APPOINTS NIGERIANS

President Mohammadu Buhari of Nigeria has approved the immediate sacking of the entire management of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has named a former Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Bada Akinwumi as the Interim Managing Director (IMD) of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) Plc.

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) announced the appointment in a statement issued by Amina Tukur Othman, Head of Public Communications, BPE, on Thursday, December 9, 2021.

A statement by BPE also named other members of the interim management team which include Sani Usman, Interim Chief Business Officer; Babajide Ibironke, Interim Chief Finance Officer; Donald Etim, Interim Chief Marketing Officer; and Femi Zachaeus, Interim Chief Technical Officer

Already, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the regulator in the power sector has approved the appointment of the interim management team for the power company,” the statement said.

The AEDC shareholders had removed the management of AEDC earlier this week over the crisis on the failure of KANN Utility, the core investor in repaying its loan to UBA, prompting the bank to lay claim to the DisCo’s assets to recover the loan.

“The United Bank for Africa (UBA) had acted as Mandated Lead Arranger, underwriting the entire facility of US$ 122 million (about N20 billion) for KANN Utilities acquisition of AEDC.”

BPE said that during the course of the intractable crisis, AEDC not only struggled to meet its obligations to the market under the terms and conditions of its licence but was also unable to meet its obligations to key stakeholders in the organisation, including staff.

This, it said, culminated in the industrial action by members of the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).

“Eventually, this resulted in a total service disruption on Dec. 6, for over 14 hours in AEDC’s network area.

“The provision of electricity supply in AEDC’s network area was only restored after the intervention of the Minister of Power, NERC and BPE following an agreement with the union on the terms for the suspension of the industrial action on Dec. 6.

“The public should note that arising from KANN’s inability to service its loan and the ensuing dispute over the servicing of the loan from UBA PLC, the lender exercised its rights by appointing a Receiver/Manager over KANN.

Engr. S. A. Bada is the CEO of Szotyola Energy International Services

He holds M. Sc. Telecommunications Engineering from Technical University of Budapest, Hungary

He joined the services of the National Electric Power Authority (now Power Holding Company of Nigeria) in Kaduna, Nigeria in 1984 as a member of the first group of professional telecommunications engineers recruited into the company.

He rose to the position of Assistant General Manager (Communications) – the first in NEPA – in 1999 and was deployed to the National Control Centre of the power utility. In this capacity, he was head of the telecommunications maintenance group of the utility.

Akinwumi Bada, a former Chief Executive Officer of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), was appointed as the interim Managing Director of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

His appointment follows the taking over of the management of the company by United Bank of Africa, (UBA) for its inability to pay back the loan of about $120 million they took to acquire the assets of AEDC.

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PUSH NEWS 24 INTERNATIONAL: November 17th, 2021

By Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON Washington on Wednesday removed Nigeria from its list of countries with religious freedom concerns, just a day before Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in the country as part of a tour of Africa.

The omission drew a sharp rebuke from a U.S. government commission that had recommended the Biden administration keep Nigeria as a so-called country of particular concern for engaging in or tolerating violations of religious freedom.

Blinken made an annual announcement on Wednesday of the countries on the list, naming Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as countries of particular concern. He also placed Algeria, Comoros, Cuba and Nicaragua on a watch list for religious freedom, and designated armed groups, including Islamic State and several of its affiliates, as entities of concern.

But Nigeria, which was added to the list for the first time in 2020, was not redesignated.

Blinken is expected to arrive in Abuja on Thursday, where he is set to meet with officials including President Muhammadu Buhari and deliver a speech on U.S. Africa policy.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment, and it was unclear if the designation was related to the secretary’s travel.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in April recommended that Nigeria remain on the list, citing “violence by militant Islamists and other non-state armed actors, as well as discrimination, arbitrary detentions, and capital blasphemy sentences by state authorities” in the country.

The commission, which had also recommended that India, Syria and Vietnam be designated as countries of concern, said in a statement that it was “appalled” by the removal of Nigeria.

“We urge the State Department to reconsider its designations based on facts presented in its own reporting,” Chair Nadine Maenza said, referring to the department’s report on international religious freedom in May, which cited religious freedom concerns in Nigeria.

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