The Federal Government has announced plans to subsidise electricity costs for universities and public health sectors under Band A feeders, following concerns for over increase in electricity bills.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu during a radio programme in Ibadan, Oyo state.
Adelabu, clarified that the subsidy would not extend to private businesses operating in these universities and hospitals.
Adding that after the Federal Government’s decision to remove subsidies from customers categorised as Band A and upgraded their daily electricity supply to a minimum of 20 hours daily, universities and public hospitals cried out that their bills had increased drastically.
In a recent complaint, the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital reported a joint bill charged by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), of about N280 Million for May, an outrageous bill compared to the N100 million they used to pay.
The institutions have also reported that they were jointly presented with a bill of about N280m for May instead of the less than N100m they used to pay.
The monthly bill given to UNILAG surged from N180m to N300m.
The Federal University of Technology, Akure had its bill raised from N20m to N60m by the Ibadan DisCo.
At the University of Benin, the tariff was increased from N80m monthly to N250m.
Recall that the Vice-Chancellor of Babcock University, Ogun State, Prof. Ademola Tayo, expressed concern in July, stating that the institution paid N300m as electricity tariff in May. He described the tariff as a severe threat to quality of education in Nigeria.
Addressing these concerns, the Minister of Power has stated that the government is aware that universities and hospitals are having challenges paying the bills, and is prepared to offer subsidies to those genuinely involved in health and education.
“We know they are development institutions, they are social institutions. However, inside health and educational institutions, private businesses are hiding. These people charge their customers commercially and they expect to be subsidised because they are located within the territories of these institutions.
“We said no, go and do a proper search and meter everybody. For the ones that are properly health and education-related, we are ready to subsidise them, even if they are on Band A. We are compiling our data, DisCos will collect a certain amount and the government will pay the balance. But we must get the data right so that we are not subsidising a private business that is charging its customers commercially. That will be an abnormal profit and it is unfair,” he stated.
