NERC Seizes Control of Kaduna Electric Over ₦456.5 Billion Debt, Hands Restructuring to Afrexim
By Victor Idajil
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has taken over Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc, KAEDC, after years of mounting debts and poor service delivery pushed the company to the brink.
In an Interim Order, NERC/2026/086, signed on August 10, 2026, the Commission sacked the KAEDC Board and installed an interim management team to run the utility until a new investor is found.
According to NERC, KAEDC could no longer meet its obligations to other players in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, or guarantee reliable power to customers.
The company’s total market debt has ballooned to about ₦456.5 billion. More than ₦118.6 billion of that was accrued under ASI Engineering Limited alone as of May 2026.
The regulator also pointed to weak remittances. In 2025, KAEDC paid only 41.93% of its adjusted market invoices.
On operations, the picture was worse. KAEDC recorded Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection losses of 71.88%. In plain terms, more than 7 out of every 10 units of electricity fed into its network were lost to equipment faults, theft, or unpaid bills.
Investment lagged far behind requirements too. KAEDC spent ₦2.48 billion on infrastructure in 2025, against a regulatory target of ₦24.51 billion. Metering coverage remains below 36%, leaving most customers on estimated billing.
To keep the lights on, NERC constituted an interim board of Special Directors.
Dr. Abdullahi Garba will serve as Chairman, while Dr. Abubakar Umar Hashidu has been named Administrator for an initial six months.
NERC said the immediate goal is to stabilize the company’s finances and operations while a permanent solution is pursued.
As part of the restructuring, the African Export-Import Bank, Afrexim, will lead a 12-month, transparent process to recruit a new core investor for Kaduna Electric.
NERC said it wants an investor with both financial muscle and technical capacity to inject capital, fix infrastructure, reduce losses, and improve customer service.
The takeover is another sign of NERC’s tougher approach under the Electricity Act 2023, which prioritizes financial discipline and accountability in the power sector. Several other DisCos across Nigeria have faced similar problems of liquidity gaps, high losses, and low investment.
For KAEDC, the priority now is to restore order, cut waste, and protect consumers from further service decline.
KAEDC supplies electricity to Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states. For millions of homes and businesses in those areas, the real test will be felt in daily life: fewer outages, better customer service, more prepaid meters, and an end to arbitrary estimated bills.
Industry analysts say the next year will determine whether the interim team and a new investor can turn KAEDC around and put it on a path to financial sustainability.
