The management of BEDC Electricity Plc has said that the power distribution company lost N750 million in one month owing to the alleged “forceful take over” of the company.
Funke Osibodu, the managing director of BEDC Plc, made this known to journalists while clarifying reports making the rounds in Benin City that she was arrested by security operatives over the leadership tussle of the company.
There has been controversies surrounding the BEDC Electricity Plc, which has recently led to an order of interim injunction restraining some groups, agents or privies from altering the board composition of BEDC pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
According to her “We resumed last week because we have a court injunction against them and during the period of the alleged forceful take over of BEDC, we lost N750 million in collection in one month. The collection went down to zero and if you don’t have money, you can’t purchase power for distribution.
Read also: No basis for takeover of BEDC, says management
Speaking on the alleged arrest, the managing director said she was questioned by the security operatives who later found out that there was a persisting court order of July 8, 2022 as regards the alteration of the board of directors of the company.
“The police asked me to follow them to the police headquarters. I followed them. When I got to the station, they told me there’s a petition against me, indicating that I was trespassing in BEDC, in addition to threat to life. They took my statement and I showed them the court documents”, she said.
Osibodu further noted that, “Till date I have not received any official document from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) or BEDC board mandating anybody to take over BEDC affairs from me but somebody just marched to the office and said, I have been asked to take over, this is not law”.
“From the record, there is no official document, written to the board of BEDC that I have been removed, but what we see was in pages of newspaper that we have been removed and that is not how the law works. The case is that sometimes ago, there was supposedly take over of five DISCOs announced by BPE,” she added.
