Egbin, FIPL, IE Case Shows FirstHoldCo Ignoring Tinubu’s Intervention on Foreclosure in Power Sector

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The ongoing scenario playing out between Egbin Power, Ikeja Electric and First Independent Power Company Limited, on the one hand and some banks, especially FBNQuest Trustees Limited, acting through Mr. Kunle Ogunba (SAN), may have highlighted the financial institutions’ decision to ignore President Bola Tinubu’s recent advice against foreclosure against the power entities, THISDAY learnt yesterday.

Also, the management of the companies has reaffirmed their financial wellbeing and unwavering commitment to servicing existing financial obligations, stating that they remain beacons of transformation, service excellence and strategic change agents committed to sustainable development across the value chain of Nigeria’s power sector.

This followed a recent publication alleging the appointment of Ogunba as receiver/manager by FBNQuest Trustees Limited, acting for a syndicate of banks, over the assets of the entities holding majority interest in the power companies.

However, THISDAY gathered that the action of the banks through Ogunba is in contradiction with recent intervention efforts by Tinubu towards ensuring stability in the power sector.

At a parley with Generation Companies (Gencos), leaders and other stakeholders over the state of the nation’s power sector, the President emphasised his government’s commitment towards creating a stable investment environment and avoiding extreme measures, such as bank asset foreclosures against generation companies.

Tinubu had said: “To our friends in the banking sector, I ask that we avoid foreclosures. Sharpen your pencils, but keep an eraser handy. Let’s persevere together.”

Describing electricity as “the most important discovery of humanity in the last 1,000 years,” the President reaffirmed that access to electricity is fundamental to economic growth and human dignity.

But speaking on behalf of the power entities, Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, Ikeja Electric, Babatunde Osadare, said: “We fully endorse President Tinubu’s stance that loan servicing must co-exist with sector stability.”

Osadare stated that the enrolled Orders from the rulings delivered on August 5, 2025 in Suit Nos. FHC/L/CS/1242, FHC/L/CS/1244, FHC/L/CS/1245), by the Honourable Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos restrained the lenders and their purported receiver/manager from taking any adverse actions on the power companies.

Osadare said the “false and misleading” publication by Kunle Ogunba SAN “represents a sad commentary for the nation’s legal system, and an act that can disrupt the spirit of collaboration which President Tinubu reiterated when he had the parley with Gencos leaders over the state of the power sector”.

He said the action of the lenders through Ogunba was unwarranted, as the lenders have at various times acknowledged the seamless servicing of the loans. He added that this fact was acknowledged in the recent rulings of Honourable Justice Aluko where he held that:

“The correspondence between the parties as shown in exhibits 5 – 9 attached to the plaintiff’s counter affidavit revealed that the defendants admitted that the plaintiff has been repaying the loan facility quarterly up to the month of June 2025 …”, he added.

To further underscore the ‘needlessness’ of Mr. Ogunba’s publication, the Court also held that: “I am of the considered view that from the evidence before the court, a germane issue which cannot be ignored is whether in spite of the fact that the plaintiff is performing its repayment obligation up to the month of June, 2025.

“This is as admitted by the Defendants in paragraph 9 of their further affidavit and their correspondence of 28/5/2024 and 31/12/2024 and going by the agreement of the parties in the 2nd Amended and Restated Facility Agreement that the Dollar loan be converted to Naira facility, it is ripe for the Defendants to call in the facility that meant to subsist till 2034 by agreement of the parties”.

Osadare further highlighted the fact that the referenced rulings by Justice Aluko specifically bars the lenders from “Calling or accelerating the facility granted by the Defendants to the Plaintiff which has not matured …” This is consistent with the position of the power entities that the loans are being serviced as agreed.

He emphasised the fact that Egbin Power, Ikeja Electric and FIPL continue to drive transformative impact in the power sector as responsible and foremost operators.

“Egbin Power, which is the largest thermal plant in sub-Saharan Africa generates about 20 per cent of total electric power in Nigeria; Ikeja Electric is equally the largest power distribution company in sub-Saharan Africa that is transforming and energising millions of homes and businesses, while First Independent Power Limited is a strategic asset in the nation’s Niger Delta corridor.

“These are assets that remain national treasures and our commitment to lighting up Nigeria responsibly is unwavering,” he said.

Osadare added that the Court’s orders had created a window for responsible resolution. He urged all parties to abide by Justice Aluko’s ruling which emphasised preserving the “res in litigation”, to safeguard the nation’s power infrastructure and maintain stability in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

He reiterated the fact that “Egbin, Ikeja Electric and FIPL stand ready to collaborate with the lenders to achieve the shared goals of servicing debts lawfully, powering the nation, and heeding the President’s call for unity in progress.”

Gencos in Nigeria are currently owed over N4 trillion by the federal government and related agencies, a debt that continues to undermine their capacity to operate efficiently.