A nationwide 50% subsidy for the amount of electricity used in public hospitals has been approved by the federal government.
The federal government would subsidize power in hospitals and colleges, even if they were on Band-A feeders, as the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had promised.
The license was given in spite of the government’s pledge to support public universities in this area, as the Eko electrical Distribution Company, or Eko DisCo, cut off the University of Lagos’ Akoka campus’ power supply yesterday due to unpaid electrical bills.
Yesterday at the National Neo-Psychiatric Hospital in Barnawa, Kadunas State, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, announced the permission.
He was at the hospital to officially launch the electronic health records, the solarization project at the dialysis unit, which includes a solar-powered borehole, and an alternate power source at the Lawal Jafaru Isah Emergency Complex.
He claims that the purpose of this gift is to lessen the financial burden on public hospitals while also improving patient outcomes.
Recall that government will not subsidize private enterprises operating in hospitals and colleges, according to Power Minister Adelabu.
The minister revealed that the government knew hospitals and institutions were having trouble covering their excessive costs.
He did, however, add that in order to avoid giving subsidies to private companies, the federal government intended to meter every firm operating within each of the institutions.
We are aware that these are social and development institutions. But there are private companies operating beneath the surface of health and education establishments. These businesses charge their clients commercial rates, and since they are situated inside these institutions’ boundaries, they anticipate receiving subsidies.
We responded no, go ahead and meter everyone and conduct a thorough search. We are prepared to provide subsidies for those who are adequately tied to health and education, even if they are on Band A.
DisCos will gather a portion of the data that we are gathering, and the government will cover the remaining costs. However, accuracy in the data is crucial to avoid supporting a private company that bills its clients commercially. It’s unjust, and that will be an abnormal profit,” he said.
We responded no, go ahead and meter everyone and conduct a thorough search. We are prepared to provide subsidies for those who are adequately tied to health and education, even if they are on Band A.
DisCos will gather a portion of the data that we are gathering, and the government will cover the remaining costs. However, accuracy in the data is crucial to avoid supporting a private company that bills its clients commercially. It’s unjust, and that will be an abnormal profit,” he said.
Eko Electricity Distribution Company has cut off the University of Lagos, Akoka’s power supply due to unpaid electricity bills, despite the government’s pledge to subsidize public university electricity rates.
The university has been struggling with the weight of growing electrical bills, as it revealed in a statement on Wednesday.
The university’s tariff category was upgraded from “Band B” to “Band A” by EKEDC, which increased monthly electricity expenditures and made the problem even worse.
Prior to the improvement, UNILAG was reportedly making monthly payments of between N150 million and N180 million.
But the June bill, which increased by 100% under the new “Band A” rate, practically doubled to about N300 million, a sum the university is finding difficult to handle. The administration of the university expressed apologies for the campus blackout that began on Tuesday.
The administration clarified that the university was unexpectedly cut off from the power supply on August 27 without any prior notice, even in spite of continuing talks with EKEDC and a recent payment of N180 million on August 20.
Our debt load increased even more when we received an astonishing bill for July that was about half a billion naira (N472 million) just two weeks after our meeting!
The statement said, “We kept our word and paid N180 million on August 20, but EKEDC disconnected us without warning on August 27 and has refused to reconnect the university to the national grid.”
The university community was reassured by the management that attempts were being made to find a solution with EKEDC.
It called for calm and announced that power supply across the campus would be rationed until further notice.
