UCH denies owing N495m electricity bill
Comment
Ibadan’s University College Hospital (UCH) denies owing N495 million bill due to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
The News Agency of Nigeria was provided with a statement by Mrs. Funmilayo Adetuyibi, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of UCH, on Wednesday in Ibadan.
According to NAN, IBEDC cut off UCH’s power supply because of what it claimed were unpaid bills totaling N495 million, leaving the facility without light.
However, Adetuyibi refuted the claim that the hospital had racked up N495 million in debt over the previous three years.
She stated that the current UCH administration, headed by Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, took office on March 1, 2019, and as of February 27, 2019, it had inherited over N27 million. Since then, it has made sure that IBEDC bills are paid every month.
She also claims that the UCH management has been paying off the backlog of bills that were left over from earlier administrations.
The IBEDC management and this management have met multiple times.
“In addition, a payment schedule for clearing the outstanding debt backlog has been sent to the IBEDC regional head and consultant.
IBEDC declined this payment plan. They demanded that the N250 million first payment be made in three months.
The motto of this management is “staff welfare and patient comfort.” Essentially, the hospital’s water and power supplies are vital to our daily operations.
The hospital administration has taken great care to ensure that the hordes of patients have access to quality medical care at all times, she said, “Even though we can say that we have outstanding bills to settle with the IBEDC.“
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Adetuyibi reported by claiming that the hospital typically spent N160 million a month on diesel, stating that only N15 to N17 million was spent on the fuel each month.
She added that the hospital’s internal audit department’s records showed that IBEDC had never provided UCH with a 24-hour power supply.
“There is no mention of the story of patients’ relatives purchasing sachet water. We use the generator to pump water even though the hospital’s water supply isn’t ideal because of the power outage.
There are just 45 generators at the hospital. Some of these forty-five generators need to be serviced, and some need to be replaced, the speaker stated.
Adetuyibi went on to say that the management of the hospital had also installed solar inverters in a few locations, such as the medical microbiology department, accident and emergency department, endoscopy suites, ECG suites, staff clinic, Owena dialysis ward, and all outpatient clinics.
“As previously mentioned, the issue we have with IBEDC stems from the outdated legislation that this administration took over.
“We made three payments in 2024: N50 million in January, N55 million in February, and N45 million in March,” the spokesperson stated.
The public relations representative continued, saying that although UCH had been paying the previous bills in addition to the current ones, IBEDC was demanding that the hospital pay the bills it had inherited.
She said that because UCH provides social services, the management had repeatedly pleaded with the electricity distribution company not to charge UCH at commercial rates.
However, the company has not heeded our appeals.
However, the hospital has established an energy committee to lessen the impact of power outages.
The committee is in charge of gathering money to pay the hospital’s electricity bills and to fund the installation of solar energy in other service areas.
In addition, the energy committee is tasked with resolving the energy issue in the short- and long-term.
“We implore kind-hearted people, business associations, and the global community at large to assist the hospital.
“UCH is a national heritage; it is our collective legacy, and it is our collective responsibility to preserve it,” Adetuyibi declared.
