Sherifat Adegbenro has stepped into a pivotal leadership role as Acting Chief Executive Officer of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (Eko Disco) following approval by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Her appointment follows a period of transition within Eko Disco’s leadership and comes amid heightened regulatory scrutiny and performance expectations across Nigeria’s 11 electricity distribution companies.
Adegbenro brings to the role over a decade of experience within Eko Disco, where she has held several senior leadership positions across customer service, commercial operations, and revenue management. Internal company disclosures and sector reports indicate that she has been instrumental in driving initiatives on revenue assurance, customer engagement frameworks, and loss-reduction strategies, particularly in high-demand clusters such as Victoria Island, Lekki, and Apapa.
Sector Context and Challenges
Eko Disco operates in Nigeria’s privatised electricity market, established following the 2013 unbundling of the former Power Holding Company of Nigeria. Like its peers, the company faces persistent challenges, including:
- High Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses
- Metering gaps despite the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) and National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) schemes
- Liquidity constraints across the value chain
- Foreign exchange exposure impacting equipment procurement and debt servicing
According to NERC’s industry performance reports, DisCos collectively struggle with remittance shortfalls to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) and Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), underscoring the importance of strong commercial leadership at the distribution level.
Adegbenro’s track record in commercial optimisation and operational discipline is expected to be central to addressing these structural inefficiencies. Industry insiders point to her involvement in implementing data-driven billing systems and improving customer segmentation strategies aimed at boosting collections and reducing energy theft.
Eko Disco is widely regarded as one of the more commercially viable distribution companies in Nigeria, and its performance often serves as a benchmark within the sector.
