The Managing Director of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), Mrs Funke Osibudu, allegedly arrested on Mondat by a team of Special Tactical Squad, Force Headquarters Abuja, has been released, it was gathered on Tuesday.
Her arrest, an attempt to enforce change of the management and board of the company by Federal government, ended, it was learnt, following a statement she gave and “intervention” from “certain quarters” in Abuja, as a source put it.
The Federal government had in July, 2022, reconstituted the boards of five power distribution companies including BEDC and those of Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan and Port Harcourt.
However, there have been ongoing resistance by the BEDC management led by Osibudu against takeover by the Federal government’s newly reconstituted board.
While the BEDC had argued that on July 8, 2022, it obtained an Interim Order of the Federal High Court in an attempt to halt the board’s reconstitution process, he Director-General (D-G) of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) Mr. Alex Okoh, who is representing the Federal government explained in a statement, that the order was obtained after the new boards had been reconstituted on July 5, 2022.
The reconstitution of the boards of the five DisCos arose following poor performances of the DisCos in electricity supply to their respective franchise areas and their inability to repay the loans obtained to acquire majority stakes in the DisCos in furtherance of the 2013 privatisation exercise.
At the time of filing this report Monday, OPTIMUM TIMES learnt that Mrs Osibudu was whisked away by security operatives from the premises of the BEDC Benin after initial resistance by the Staff which led to destruction of some property.
It was gathered that Mrs Osibudu was taken to Edo state police headquarters, but it could not be ascertained on whose directive her arrest was effected.
▪︎ Additional report by Optimum Times.