In a statement released by the company’s legal consultant, Jesuyemisi Odeyemi, it said that contrary to the sensational narrative being pushed by 86 Gardens, the facts remain clear, verifiable, and grounded in documented corporate processes and legal principles.

Archlight Nigeria Limited emerged as the preferred bidder for the 60% equity in IBEDC offered by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) during a competitive bid in 2024.

86 Gardens is the parent company of Africa Plus Partners Nigeria Limited, one of the unsuccessful bidders in the AMCON-led process.

Africa Plus Partners Nigeria Limited was designated as a reserved bidder after failing to meet the bid requirements that Archlight successfully fulfilled.

Odeyemi noted that following the announcement of Archlight as the preferred bidder, 86 Gardens congratulated the company and made an unsolicited approach to become a co-investor in Archlight (and not in IBEDC).

Some of Archlight shareholders negotiated a deal with 86G Limited, but the agreement-in-principle reached was kept in escrow pending the fulfillment of terms and conditions, especially the payment of agreed fees for share transfer by 86G Limited.

The statement further stated that despite multiple deadline extensions, 86 Gardens never made the required financial commitment.

Consequently, the co-investment proposal lapsed, and Archlight’s shareholders that negotiated with 86G lawfully disposed of their shares to other interested parties in August 2024 and exited the company.

“86G later insisted the Custodian of the unfulfilled agreement-in-principle must list it as a shareholder of Archlight despite not making any financial commitment. This prompted the Custodian to convene a meeting of all the parties to explore the possibility of settling the matter. Archlight noted at the meeting that though 86G had no legal claim due to its failure to make the agreed financial payment, it would still entertain a co-investment deal acceptable to all the shareholders. 86G accepted the agreement deal reached at the meeting and promised to formally revert within one week.

“Instead of reverting on the agreement as promised, Archlight was shocked to learn that 86G had filed a suit at the Federal High Court Abuja challenging the legality of the announcement of Archlight as the preferred bidder instead of its SPV, Africa Plus Partners Nigeria Limited. This suit was contested by Archlight and subsequently dismissed on October 21, 2024. This effectively foreclosed any business relationship between 86G and Archlight on its share acquisition.” Odeyemi added.

Odeyemi further highlighted the company’s positions:

• Documents referenced by 86 Gardens in its claim were deposited in escrow and clearly stated that share transfer was conditional upon full payment and a supplemental agreement.
• Contrary to its assertions, 86 Gardens failed to meet these conditions and has no legal or beneficial interest in Archlight or its IBEDC equity.
• The Custodian of the escrow documents acted within the law and professional standards by refusing to transfer documents without the fulfillment of the agreed terms.
• The recent court injunction obtained ex parte by 86 Gardens is an abuse of judicial process and a clear attempt to frustrate a lawfully executed business transaction.
• Archlight Nigeria Limited has full and unencumbered ownership of its equity in IBEDC, secured through a transparent, competitive, and duly recognized bid process.
• As of this moment, Archlight has not been served any court papers on the alleged suit.
• The company will vigorously defend its reputation and rights through all available legal means.

She urged the public and stakeholders to disregard any false impressions being created by 86 Gardens and to rely on the rule of law and factual record, which supports the company’s position.

According to report, Dr Jesse Otegbayo, the chief medical director of UCH, confirmed on Thursday that the hospital was disconnected by IBEDC but declined to disclose the cause of the disconnection.

A source, who resides in the University of Ibadan, also confirmed the incidence our correspondent that the power supply to the University college Hospital Ibadan was disconnected.

Reacting, Busolami Tunwase, the IBEDC spokesperson, denied that the teaching hospital was disconnected, even as she confirmed that it owed the DisCo about N500m.

She claimed that a technical fault that led to a power outage in UCH, though the hospital had repeatedly ignored several appeals to pay its debt.

“UCH is owing us, it is correct. They owe about N500m. We have written to them more than four times. We have called for a meeting so that we can sit down and discuss and spread the debt even if they cannot pay once. We just want to know how to get our money.

“We have kept it this far because we understand the critical nature of the UCH and the lives involved. There is no way we will just go and disconnect them.

“But currently, there is a fault around that area. There is a local fault around that area; that is what necessitated this outage. It is just a coincidence that this one is coming when we are trying to get them to sit down with us to have a meeting on how to settle their debt,” Tunwase stated.

The new tariff increase approval by NERC to DisCos, according to the the Nation, took effect from January1, 2022 but the new rate is from February 2022.

According to the NERC document titled: “This regulatory instrument shall be cited as Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO-2022) for Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company Plc (PHED”), NERC based the increase on the Performance Improvement Plans of the DisCos and indices such as gas price, inflation, exchange rate, US inflation rate and available generation capacity.

The commission noted that the indices with potential impact of on electricity rates were considered.

It added that these indices shall be reviewed in every six months to update the tariffs with changes in the indices as applicable in line with the MYTO.

This was contained in the commission’s Order No: NERC/304/2021, which chairman, Sanusi Garba and Vice Chairman Musiliu Oseni signed on 29th December, 2021.

The document explained: “Consequently, following the approval of PHED’s PIP on 30th April, 2021, the Commission issued the MYTO-2021 Extraordinary Tariff Order effective from 1st July 2021 in consideration on PHED’s CAPEX proposals over a 5-year plan in line with the approved PIP.

“Accordingly, this MYTO-2022 order restates PHED’s approved 5-year CAPEX and relevant assumptions applied to forecast revenue requirements and applicable tariffs for the period 2021-2026 in line with MYTO Methodology and Regulations Procedure for Electricity Tariff Reviews in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).”

It is programmed from 1st July 2021 to 30th June, 2026.

The NERC document showed that for the PHED (A-Non MD) customers who paid N56.16/kwh in January 2022 will now (February to December 2022) pay N60.67/kwh).

(B Non-MD) customers who paid N56.64/kwh in January 2022, will now pay N59.64/kwh.

The noted that E- MD2 customers who paid N50.72/kwh in January 2022, will now (From February 2022) pay N54.22/kwh .

Details later..