Senator Abdulaziz Yari, chairman of Geregu Power Plc, has personally stepped in to cover the company's outstanding bond obligation, a move that raises significant regulatory and fiscal governance questions. The disclosure came on 21 August, when Yari announced he had provided funds to address the immediate bond payment default, which followed his family's $750 million acquisition of a 95 per cent stake in Amperion Power, the controlling shareholder of Geregu.
From Power Sector Reforms to Power Play
Yari's involvement in the power sector spans over two decades, paralleling Nigeria's electricity market reforms. In 2005, the Electric Power Sector Reform Act established the legal framework for unbundling the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and creating a competitive electricity market. A year earlier, Yari had graduated with a diploma in secretarial studies from Sokoto State Polytechnic and served as the ANPP chairman in Zamfara State.
Geregu Power was created in November 2006 as a publicly traded company, beginning operations in 2007. That same year, Yari was first elected to the House of Representatives for the Anka/Talata Mafara Federal Constituency. His political ascent continued when he defeated his father-in-law, Governor Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, in the 2011 gubernatorial election and was sworn in as Zamfara State governor on 29 May 2011.
The $750 Million Acquisition and Its Aftermath
On 29 December 2025, Ma'am Energy Limited, controlled by Yari's family, paid $750 million (₦1.09 trillion) for a 95 per cent stake in Amperion Power. This transaction gave Ma'am Energy beneficial control of 77 per cent of Geregu Power shares, and Yari was installed as chairman of the board. The deal represented the most expensive single transaction of its kind involving exclusively Nigerian interests, yet it did not occur on the floor of the Stock Exchange but through a complex restructuring of the holding company.
Shortly after the ownership change, Geregu Power defaulted on repayment obligations for a bond issued in 2022, before Yari's installation. On 21 August, Chairman Yari issued a statement disclosing that he had chosen, in his capacity as chairman, to personally provide the funds required to address the immediate outstanding bond obligation, reported to be ₦6 billion.
Regulatory Silence and Market Integrity Concerns
The development raises at least four concerns. First, a transparency imperative: full details of the transaction leading to the amortisation of this debt have yet to be disclosed beyond Yari's personal statement, and none of the regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates Geregu Power as a publicly quoted company, has commented. Second, market integrity fears: regulators exist to guarantee the integrity of the market and protect investors, not to conflate a chairman's personal funds with those of a publicly traded company.
Third, regulatory abdication is a real concern, as a high-profile default within six months of an expensive ownership change suggests a failure of due diligence. Fourth, fiscal governance issues arise: how will a senator and recent governor paying off a ₦6 billion debt to a company he is invested in be taxed—as philanthropy, investment, or a write-off?
Yari's career has not been without controversy. In May 2022, he was arrested in connection with investigations into the N84 billion fraud involving the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris. Three months earlier, a Federal High Court ordered forfeiture of 10 properties linked to Yari in Abuja, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Maryland, USA. Despite this, he was elected senator for Zamfara West in 2023, and later lost the Senate presidency contest to Godswill Akpabio, securing 46 votes against Akpabio's 63.
In June 2026, Yari threatened to sue unnamed persons linking him to gold bullion reportedly confiscated by the EFCC at Aminu Kano International Airport. NEITI estimates the annual value of illegal mining and gold smuggling in Nigeria at over $9 billion, with Zamfara home to more than 21 artisanal gold mines across six local government areas.
Yari's role now extends to leading the campaign to re-elect the president, with fundraising headed by the chairman of Nigeria's revenue service, a situation the article describes as 'truly bandit capitalism.'
