Adelabu Ends 102-day Power Outage, Brokers Peace Between UCH, IBEDC

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu on Monday brokered peace between the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).

The development will bring to an end the 102 days power outage in the institution. The truce has led to a promise by the distribution company to restore electricity supply to some sections of the hospital within the next 24 to 48 hours.

After a closed-door meeting which lasted about three hours between the Minister, the Managing Director of IBEDC, Engr Francis Agoha and the Chief Medical Director, UCH, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, the trio led other top management teams of both institutions, led by the Minister to address the media and students.

He described the black out in the institution as a national embarrassment, and not only shameful to the management of the hospital or the distribution company but also the Federal Government, adding that the huge debt owed by the hospital is traceable to some factors which include sharp practices, unseparated accounts, dilapidated infrastructure and equipment, among others.

“The power crisis in the UCH has gotten to an embarrassing level, not just for the hospital or IBEDC but also to the Federal Government. UCH is the country’s premier Teaching Hospital and it is embarrassing to have the hospital in darkness for that long.

“The issue is on customer-vendor crisis which we expect would have been resolved. I have intervened in the past and the hospital was reconnected to the grid but the issue would come back again. The Federal government is not comfortable with the current crisis between UCH and IBEDC.”

The Minister said similar issues in some other facilities did not linger before it was resolved, saying the development necessitated his intervention.

He however assured that all the issues relating to the crisis have been resolved.

Adelabu also informed the hospital management of Federal Government’s readiness to see that all medical institutions are electrified, but emphasized that proper budgeting must be done and registered through the Federal Ministry of Health.

He said the Power ministry is liaising with the Federal Ministry of Health to jointly establish and agree on the actual energy cost to eliminate fraud and power theft, establish the capacity of the hospital to foot its bill in line with its revenue capacity.

He decried the practice of lumping electricity bill of the Teaching Hospital adding that as part of the way forward, there would be the unbundling of the energy bill of the hospital itself from the college of medicine and hostels, residents and business communities like supermarkets and banks; revamping the power infrastructure for optimal performance.

He also charged the technical team of IBEDC to work with electricity department of UCH to determine the reasons for energy losses.

“It is the desire of Federal Government to see that all institutions are electrified, however a proper energy budget must be done by all institutions and submitted to the parent body, the Federal Ministry of Health.

“Henceforth, each of the major consumers will be responsible for the payment of their electricity bills as against the previous practice of lumping bill”.

He said separate transformers would be provided.

“It was also agreed that all the section of the UCH must be properly metered in order to guide against sharp practices. The issue of fraud and power theft will not be condoned. It is an economic crime. Whoever that is caught should be reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“We have seen the results, likewise the consequence of the ignoble act. I have advised the CMD to report such incidence to the EFCC. Some banks were caught red-handed by-passing connection. That is fraud”, the Minister added.

The Minister who said the Federal Governemmt has listed both the UCH and University of Ibadan as beneficiaries of a 50 megawatts solar mini grid which would be completed within the first and second quarter of the year, also listed different institutions within the country where the federal government had intervened to reduce the energy burden through the provision of mini grids.

They include the University of Abuja, University of Maiduguri, University of Calabar, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Nigerian Defense Academy, Kaduna.

“That was the first phase of the government’s plan for intervention but for some reasons it was rejected by both the University of Ibadan and the University College of Hospital. Now, we have incorporated them into the second phase of Energizing Education Programme (EEA) of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) which will begin during the first and second quarter of this year.”

“Also, while this is going on, the IBEDC has agreed to restore electricity to some sections of the hospital within 48 hours while N283m will be settled on an instalment basis.

“The management of the UCH has agreed on immediate settlement of the debt on instalment payment which is going to be between 8-12 months in addition to the current bill.

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of the IBEDC, Agoha confirmed the gradual restoration of electricity to sections of the hospital.

He said his team would be meeting with the UCH team to work on the modalities, adding that the time frame for the reconnection is dependent on how quickly the issues around abuse, energy theft, misuse were addressed.

Also in his remarks, UCH CMD, Prof Otegbayo spoke on the various efforts put in place by the hospital to ensure that darkness did not overtake the facility.

He said the outstanding debt of the hospital which is to the tune of N283.8million was cumulative of electricity usage at the College of Medicine, hostels among other facilities within the premises.

Otegbayo said some of the issues has to do with old cables that are to be replaced asking for a special intervention from the government and other stakeholders.