Geregu Power Plant, One Of Nigeria’s Electricity Grid Suppliers, Trapped In N40 Billion Bond Dispute As New Chairman Seeks Reimbursement From Otedola

Geregu Power Plant

OpenLife News reports that Geregu Power Plc, one of Nigeria’s key suppliers of electricity to the national grid, is at the centre of a N40.09 billion bond dispute that has pitted its new chairman, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, against the company’s former owners led by billionaire, Femi Otedola.

Yari, who took control of Geregu in December 2024, says he personally stepped in to cure a bond default “in the interest of the institution,” but insists the obligation was created before his tenure and that he now expects reimbursement from the previous management.

The Bond Default That Shook Investors

The dispute relates to Geregu’s Series 1 Senior Unsecured Bond — a N40.09 billion instrument issued in July 2022 at a fixed coupon of 14.5 percent. The bond was floated under the company’s N100 billion multi-instrument debt programme.

According to a listing update from FMDQ Securities Exchange, Geregu missed its eighth semi-annual coupon payment and fourth scheduled principal repayment this year, triggering a credit default flag on the instrument.

Financial expert Farouk Yusuf, speaking on Arise Television, said the amount that fell due in late July was about N6 billion, out of a bond payable balance of roughly N34 billion at the end of 2024.

The company later confirmed to bond trustees that the outstanding amounts had been remitted, effectively curing the default. But the episode has weighed on investor confidence. Geregu shares, which traded above N1,019 within the past year, closed at N825.70 in mid-August — a drop of roughly 19 percent from their 52-week high.

Yari Steps In, Demands Fair Accounting

In a signed statement, Yari said he funded the payment out of his own pocket to protect Geregu’s reputation. However, he was clear the action was not an admission of liability.

Geregu Power Plant Kogi State Abdulaziz Yari Femi Otedola Bond Dispute — *Geregu chairman Yari blames former owners for N40bn bond default*

“This is not an admission that the obligation is personally mine,” Yari said, adding that it also “does not amount to a finding that the current board or management created the problem.”

The bond was issued more than three years before Yari’s group, MA’AM Energy Limited, took control of Geregu in a deal worth roughly $750 million completed in December 2024.

That acquisition ended Femi Otedola’s long tenure as the company’s controlling shareholder and chairman. Otedola had built his stake in Geregu after divesting from Forte Oil Plc more than a decade earlier.

Yari said discussions with “the bond’s original architects” — the former owners and management under whose watch the instrument was issued — are ongoing. According to him, those parties have indicated willingness to work toward what he called “a full and fair accounting of how the obligation arose.”

“Our objective, ultimately, is a final, mutually acceptable resolution,” Yari said, pointing to “fair treatment or reimbursement of the funds he advanced,” alongside firmer arrangements for future bond obligations.

Yari’s office has framed his decision to pay as consistent with his responsibilities as both a shareholder and a sitting senator. In an earlier statement, he said Geregu’s reputation for reliability made it a matter he “could not treat as someone else’s problem,” even as chairman, a role he said exists to provide oversight, not to run day-to-day operations.

The Business History Of Geregu Power Plant

The Geregu Power Plant is a 435-megawatt, gas-fired thermal power station located in Ajaokuta, Kogi State.

Commissioned in February 2007, Geregu was one of the first power plants delivered under the National Integrated Power Projects, NIPP, aimed at bridging Nigeria’s electricity deficit. Over the years, it has grown into a critical asset feeding the national grid, especially for the North-Central region.

In 2013, as part of the Federal Government’s power sector privatization, Geregu was acquired by Amperion Power Distribution Company, a vehicle linked to Femi Otedola. Otedola later consolidated control and rebranded the asset under his energy portfolio.

Under Otedola’s leadership, Geregu made history in 2022 by becoming the first generation company to list on the Nigerian Exchange, NGX. The listing was seen as a landmark for the power sector and helped deepen capital market participation in electricity assets.

To fund expansion and working capital, Geregu raised the N40.09 billion bond in July 2022. At the time, the company also disclosed that about N31 billion was held in restricted cash tied to an unfinished power-plant acquisition.

Analysts are now questioning whether that restricted cash and how the 2022 bond proceeds were deployed contributed to the liquidity shortfall that emerged in 2025.

New Ownership, New Questions

The December 2024 sale to MA’AM Energy Limited, owned by Senator Abdulaziz Yari, was valued at approximately $750 million. The deal marked one of the biggest private takeovers in Nigeria’s power sector and transferred control of the 435MW plant to the former Zamfara State governor.

Since taking over, Yari has pledged to strengthen governance and improve Geregu’s financial discipline. But the inherited bond liability has complicated the transition.

Beyond the boardroom, the dispute has drawn wider scrutiny about transparency in Nigeria’s power sector financing. Investors are watching to see how the reimbursement talks play out and whether Geregu can restore market confidence ahead of its next coupon date.

What Happens Next

For now, the default has been cured and the plant continues to supply power to the grid. But with N34 billion still outstanding on the bond and a 14.5% coupon to service, Geregu’s new management faces the task of restructuring obligations while keeping the plant running efficiently.

Yari says his priority is “a final, mutually acceptable resolution” with the former owners. How much of the N40.09 billion he advanced will be refunded, and what role Otedola’s team will play in that settlement, will determine whether Geregu can move past this dispute and focus on its core mandate: keeping Nigeria’s lights on.