#jaiyeorie
A trillion naira did not move loudly.
It moved politely, with paperwork, signatures, and silence.
When Femi Otedola sold his controlling stake in Geregu Power, it wasn’t announced with fanfare and yet, in that silence sat one of the loudest signals Nigeria’s business ecosystem has seen in years.
Femi Otedola has sold his controlling stake in Geregu Power Plc in a deal valued at roughly ₦1.088 trillion — about $750 million — to MA’AM Energy Limited, an Abuja-based energy company.
This wasn’t simply a share sale — it was a handover of control. Otedola’s stake was held through Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited, the majority shareholder in Geregu Power. With MA’AM Energy acquiring a 95 % interest in Amperion, the ultimate ownership of 77 % of Geregu Power’s issued share capital shifted to the new investor.
For perspective, Geregu Power is one of the largest and most valuable power generation companies on the Nigerian Exchange, with a market capitalisation above ₦2.8 trillion and shares that have appreciated tremendously since its listing
This is not a story about profit. It is about timing. Otedola entered power when it was unfashionable, capital-intensive, politically tangled. He stayed long enough to professionalise it, list it, and let the market reprice belief into value. Then he exited — not because power failed, but because his role in that chapter was complete. Wealth builders don’t cling; they rotate. They understand that ownership is seasonal.
Here’s the deeper layer most reactions miss: this sale is less about energy and more about attention.
Capital follows attention. When a man who reads macro winds better than most releases a trillion-naira asset, he is freeing something more valuable than cash — optionality. The ability to move next. To enter before consensus forms. To place conviction where others are still arguing policy. Jaiyeorie note: Real power is knowing when to let go — before nostalgia turns into risk.
And that’s why this deal lingers.
If Nigeria’s most disciplined capital allocator is stepping aside from a sector he once fought to stabilise, what does he see that the rest of the market hasn’t priced in yet?
Is this confidence in succession — or caution about what comes next?
And in a country where infrastructure is destiny, who really owns the future when the builders quietly hand over the keys?
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