AEDC Ownership Tussle: FG Cautions Workers against Shutting down Power Supply

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The federal government, through the Ministry of Power at the weekend cautioned workers in the electricity sector against embarking on an industrial action as a consequence of the impact of the ownership tussle in the Abuja Distribution Company (AEDC).

The Minister of State, Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, in a statement in Abuja, explained that the government was engaging all the relevant stakeholders to make sure that all the pending issues are resolved soon.

However, he urged the labour union to follow due process in airing the grievances of its members, stressing that going contrary to established rules will run against the extant laws which may have unintended consequences.

Jedy-Agba said: “The attention of Federal Ministry of Power has been drawn to a threat by a section of labour unions in the power sector to the effect that it would shut down power supply in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and beyond.

“That union is anchoring this threat on a situation in the ownership tussle of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), which has made the company fail in some responsibilities to workers.

“We are also aware that the unions in the sector have been part of the solution to this problem and therefore know the facts and stage of the efforts towards solving the problem, as far as workers rights are concerned.”

The minister opined that such problems were not peculiar to the AEDC and therefore called on the union to be “cautious and responsible to avoid endangering the fragile state of our electricity infrastructure which the present government is working hard to strengthen”.

According to him, it is also worthy of note that labour matters have a procedure to address them, urging the unions to follow due process to pursue its legitimate rights.

“Doing the contrary have other consequences including economic sabotage and related offences. The Federal Ministry of Power has taken up the leadership of efforts to engage relevant stakeholders, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), to resolve this problem very soon.

“All Nigerians are hereby enjoined to be alert as we plead with the aggrieved unions to toe the line of peace and dialogue,” the minister appealed.

The tussle relating to the board of KANN Utility Company Limited, owners of AEDC, has raged for years as the shareholders have continued to differ on decisions and appointments to the board and the management.

The matter got to a head last year when some investors in the AEDC purportedly announced changes to the governing board of the distribution company (Disco).

At a time, CEC Africa Limited (CECA), one of the parties in the matter, said the board of KANN Utility Company Limited had announced the withdrawal of its nominations to the board of AEDC and their replacement with new nominees.

It said that the board of KANN proposed the following new directors: Mr. Joe (Joseph) Makoju, Mallam Ibrahim Aliyu, Dr. Olubunmi Peters, Dr. George Nwangwu and Mr. Faruk Aliyu.

“The board of AEDC has since resolved to accept both the withdrawals and the new appointments,” it said.

But the Chairman of the Board of AEDC and KANN, Shehu Malami, in a reaction, said the alleged change in the management of the Disco was false.

”For the records, the board of AEDC is the only authorised body that can appoint or remove its directors and has made no such decision in recent time,” he said at the time.