•NERC sacks Kaduna Disco board over N456.5bn debt •Says Disco owes NBET N415.5bn, NISO N41bn Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Geregu Power Plc has missed a scheduled payment on its N40.09 billion bond obligations, heightening investor concerns over the financial position of the power Generation Company (Genco), less than a year after the change of leadership at the organisation. Specifically, the default, disclosed in an updated listing status by FMDQ Securities Exchange, comes about eight months after billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, exited the company in a landmark $750 million transaction that transferred his controlling interest to MA’AM Energy Limited in December 2025. Also, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday announced the dissolution of the board of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc (KAEDC), citing prolonged financial and regulatory defaults, amounting to approximately N456.5 billion as of May 2026. The Geregu transaction involved the sale of Otedola’s 95 per cent stake in Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited to MA’AM Energy Limited, effectively transferring the indirect controlling interest in the firm to the Abuja-based energy company. MA’AM Energy is involved in electricity generation and supply, energy trading and marketing. Following the transaction, Senator Abdulaziz Yari emerged as chairman of the Geregu Power board, while a number of new directors were appointed, including Usman Gur Mohammed, Sani Jaafaru and Uzoamaka Adogu. The acquisition was financed by a consortium of Nigerian banks led by Zenith Bank, with Blackbirch Capital acting as financial adviser. Geregu Power was listed on the NGX four years ago amid strong investor expectations about the growth potential of Nigeria’s power market, where demand for electricity remains substantially higher than available generation. But FMDQ classified the status of Geregu Power’s Series 1 bond as “credit default in the 8th coupon payment and 4th bullet principal repayment”, indicating that the company failed to meet two debt service obligations falling due under the bond structure. The bond, valued at N40.09 billion, was issued on July 28, 2022, under Geregu Power’s N100 billion debt issuance programme at a fixed coupon rate of 14.50 per cent. It has a seven-year tenor and was structured to provide semi-annual coupon payments alongside scheduled principal repayments, with final maturity due on July 28, 2029. The missed payments therefore represent a significant development occurring midway through the instrument’s life, rather than a maturity-related obligation, raising questions about the company’s immediate liquidity and debt-servicing capacity. The development also coincides with a dramatic deterioration in Geregu Power’s financial performance, with the company reporting an 88 per cent decline in profit after tax and a 79 per cent fall in revenue in the first half of 2026. Geregu Power’s profit after tax fell to N2.54 billion in the six months ended June 30, 2026, from N20.27 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025. Revenue also plunged to N18.65 billion from N87.63 billion a year earlier, representing a decline of 78.71 per cent. The contraction became particularly severe in the second quarter, when the power generation company recorded turnover of only N419.1 million, compared with N55.87 billion in Q2 2025, representing a collapse of almost 99 per cent in quarterly turnover and underscoring the extent of the disruption to the company’s operations and cash generation during the period. The latest figures are also a sharp reversal from Geregu Power’s expectations earlier in the year. The company had projected Q1 2026 revenue of N57.11 billion, compared with N31.75 billion in Q1 2025, while its projected profit after tax of N12.02 billion was also above the N10.43 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2025. Instead, the company’s first-half performance came in substantially below both its previous-year results and its own earlier projections. However, Geregu Power has attributed the operational disruption to a major turbine maintenance programme estimated at N61.47 billion. The extensive overhaul, THISDAY learnt, is intended to preserve the long-term integrity of the generating assets and improve their availability. But the temporary loss of generating capacity has severely affected electricity output, revenue and, ultimately, cash flows available for debt servicing. But despite the sharp deterioration in its operating performance, Geregu Power retained some balance-sheet support during the period, including financial asset impairment reversals amounting to N16.12 billion. Its total liabilities also declined to N239.33 billion during the period. However, the bond defa
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