NERC names 5-member interim board to fix troubled Kaduna DisCo

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has inaugurated a five-member interim board for Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KAEDC), days after dissolving the company’s board over persistent financial and operational failures.

The new Interim Board of Special Directors was inaugurated on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, as part of measures to implement NERC’s regulatory intervention and reset the operations of the Kaduna electricity distributor.

The inauguration followed NERC’s August 10 intervention order, which dissolved KAEDC’s previous board after the DisCo repeatedly failed to meet market obligations and other prescribed performance indicators.

NERC also appointed an Interim Administrator, Abubakar Umar Hashidu, to oversee the company’s operations during the intervention.

What they are saying

NERC said it had constituted the five-member Interim Board of Special Directors for an initial one-year period, with Dr. Abdullahi Garba serving as chairman. Hashidu was appointed as Interim Administrator for an initial six-month period.

• “The Commission subsequently constituted a five-member Interim Board of Special Directors, chaired by Dr. Abdullahi Garba, for an initial period of one year, alongside an Interim Administrator, Abubakar Umar Hashidu, appointed for an initial six-month period, to drive the reset of the distribution company,” the statement said.

Following the inauguration, NERC, members of the new board and KAEDC management and staff visited the Headquarters of One Division of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna.

The delegation was received by the General Officer Commanding and senior officers of the Division. It also visited the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna, where the Commandant and principal officers received the delegation.

Get up to speed

NERC’s intervention in KAEDC took effect on August 10, 2026, after the regulator dissolved the company’s board over what it described as severe financial insolvency, prolonged market defaults and weak operational performance. The intervention order was issued pursuant to Sections 75–79 of the Electricity Act 2023.

• The regulator said KAEDC’s cumulative market obligations had reached about N456.5 billion as of May 31, 2026. This comprised N415.5 billion owed to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and N41 billion owed to the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), while the company also had N14.26 billion in other statutory and third-party obligations.
• The financial deterioration accelerated after ASI Engineering Limited assumed operational control of the DisCo in June 2024. NERC said KAEDC accumulated an additional N118.6 billion in market debt between the investor’s takeover and May 2026.
• The commission also said the company and its core investor repeatedly failed to provide acceptable payment guarantees required under electricity market rules and did not present a credible plan for settling the outstanding liabilities.

KAEDC’s market remittance performance was also a major concern. NERC said the DisCo paid only 41.93% of its adjusted market invoices during the 2025 review period, resulting in a market payment shortfall of N46.71 billion. The regulator also cited high technical, commercial and collection losses, alongside inadequate investment and low metering coverage.

What you should know

The intervention came about two years after NERC approved the acquisition of a 60% equity stake in Kaduna Electricity Company Plc by ASI Engineering Limited, paving the way for the investor to assume operational control of the DisCo in June 2024.

• NERC’s latest action effectively places the company under interim management while the regulator works to address its financial and operational challenges. The intervention order also provides for a process to secure a new core investor for the utility.
• The development comes amid broader challenges facing Nigeria’s electricity distribution sector, despite improvements in revenue collection.
• NERC’s First Quarter 2026 report showed that the 11 DisCos collectively collected N597.56 billion from customers during the quarter, representing 78.95% of the N756.93 billion billed. Collection efficiency fell marginally from 79.36% in the fourth quarter of 2025, leaving N159.37 billion in billed electricity revenue uncollected.

Kaduna DisCo, however, recorded the lowest collection efficiency among the distribution companies during the quarter at 45.81%, underscoring the commercial challenges facing the utility before NERC’s intervention