Again, NERC sacks Kaduna Electric board over N456.5bn debt

The Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company’s (KAEDCO) board of directors has been dissolved, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

This occurs two years after ASI Engineering Limited acquired the business in June 2024.

In an order signed yesterday by Commissioner Legal, Licensing & Compliance Dafe Akepeneye and Chairman Musiliu O. Oseni, NERC stated that the dissolution was due to the new owners’ failure to develop the organization’s network and meet remittance requirements to the energy market.

According to Daily Trust, KAEDCO was one of six businesses seized by creditors as a result of a liquidity problem that made it impossible for it to repay the loans utilised to purchase the business.

Recall that Kaduna Electric’s board of directors was disbanded by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in January 2024 due to the company’s failure to settle a N110 billion debt owed to the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry.

As a result, an interim board was appointed to run the business for the six months prior to ASI taking control.

However, NERC stated in its order that as of May 2026, KAEDC’s total market obligation since privatisation was roughly N456.5 billion, with N41 billion owed to the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) and #415.5 billion owed to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET).

It stated that the business had accumulated N14.26 billion in non-market statutory and third-party commitments.

As of May 2026, the Licensee has more than N118.6 billion in market debt after ASI Engineering Limited (“ASI” or the “Core Investor”) took over KAEDC’s operations in June 2024. In accordance with the conditions of their Vesting Contract and the rules of the Market Rules of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (“NESI”), the Core Investors and KEADC have consistently failed to provide NBET and NISO with acceptable/credible payment bank guarantees. Additionally, the Core Investor has not offered a reliable payment schedule for these obligations.

In the review period ending December 31, 2025, KAEDC only paid 41.93% of adjusted market bills, leaving a market deficiency of roughly #46.71 billion. This subpar performance is directly related to KAEDC’s high Aggregate Technical Commercial and Collection Losses (“ATC&C”) of 71.88%, which indicates that KAEDC was only able to account for 28.2% of the energy received and distributed to end-use customers throughout the 2025 assessment period.

The commission clarified that additional research revealed that significant regulatory derogations and Federal Government interventions, totalling over N6.58 billion in derogations granted between January 2024 and May 2026, had not stopped the Licensee’s decline.

However, since July 2018, the total amount of Federal Government intervention payouts has been almost N53.79 billion. Therefore, end users, creditors, market stability, and the continuation of electrical delivery are all at serious danger due to the ongoing underperformance. The study verifies that KAEDC is facing significant financial limitations and that NESI is at systemic risk due to its economic viability and ongoing market participation.

It further stated that KAEDC’s board has failed to provide a reliable, funded, and quantifiable plan for capital infusion, operational effectiveness, and sustainable recovery despite the commission’s regulatory initiatives and significant government involvement.