BEDC lost N750m in one month due to forceful takeover —MD

The Managing Director, Benin Electricity District Company (BEDC) Plc, Funke Osibodu, has disclosed that the company lost N750 million in one month due to what she described as illegal taking over of operations of the company. 

Osibodu disclosed this on Tuesday in Benin City, while addressing journalists on her alleged arrest by the police over the leadership tussle of the company.

It would be recalled that on July 8, 2022, Dr Henry Ajagbawa, had taken over the management of BEDC as the new Managing Director of the company.

Osibodu said despite a valid court order barring Ajagbawa and his group from taking over BEDC, they still brought the police from Abuja to obstruct the company’s operation and tried to arrest 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 and if you don’t have money, you can’t purchase power for distribution.”

Speaking on her alleged arrest by the police from Abuja, she said she was taken to the Edo Police Command headquarters for questioning and that when police discovered the law was on her side they couldn’t do anything.

“The police who claimed they came from Abuja said I have committed threat to the life of Ajagawa, unlawful restrain and trespass. They invited me to the police headquarters in Benin for questioning.”

She said after showing police the restraining court injunction of July 8, from an Abuja Federal High Court against  Ajagbawa and his group, the police could not do anything.

Osibodu said, “To date, I have not received any official document from the BPE or BEDC Board mandating anybody to take over BEDC affairs, but somebody just marched to the office and said, I have been asked to take over. This is not the law.

“From the records, there is no official document, written to the Board of BEDC that I have been removed, but what we see was in pages of the newspaper that we have been removed and that is not how law works.”

She alleged that somebody was using his office to suppress the rule of law, adding because they didn’t succeed in the initial takeover, they resorted to self-help through any means.

“The case is that sometimes ago, there was supposedly take over of five DISCOs announced by the BPE. Three of them were because Fidelity Bank claimed that they are going to exercise their right over shares and BPE knows that Fidelity doesn’t have the shares of BEDC as the cover investor never pledged BEDC shares,” she stressed.