By Ali Elias
The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has accused the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) of disconnecting its power supply despite payment of N60 million last month. The hospital management alleges that IBEDC has unfairly categorized the premier tertiary hospital under Band A, leading to exorbitant billing rates.
“We have been making efforts to pay. IBEDC forced us on Band A. Our latest bill for one month is N99 million. We paid N60 million, but they refused to reconnect us,” said UCH’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof. Jesse Otegbayo.
An analysis of UCH’s payment history revealed that the hospital has paid N676,990,174.04 out of a total bill of N723,095,841.55 accrued from January 2019 to November 2024. Despite this, IBEDC has continued disconnections over alleged unpaid debts.
In a memo dated November 5, the hospital acknowledged the distress caused by the power outage and assured stakeholders of ongoing efforts to restore power. The memo stated:
“Management has initiated the process to ensure that power is restored to the hospital as soon as possible. Nonetheless, provision of alternative power supply to some critical areas in the hospital, with priority to the service areas which are in high demand, has been put in place through generators and solar panels/inverters, as well as pumping of water to all areas of the hospital.”
The crisis has triggered protests from families of patients, who claim the outages disrupt medical treatments and jeopardize lives. “Patients are dying because they cannot receive the medical tests needed for treatment. The outages have not only hindered immediate medical assessments but also severely complicated ongoing treatments,” a protester lamented.
However, UCH has refuted claims of patient deaths and operational shutdowns, describing such allegations as “false and misleading.” In an official statement, the hospital assured the public that utilities in critical departments, such as operating theatres, intensive care units, and accident and emergency wards, remain functional, powered by generators and solar panels.
The power supply crisis at UCH mirrors similar challenges faced by other government institutions. For instance, the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, has been disconnected from public power supply for eight weeks following a billing dispute with the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC). A top management staff at the institution revealed:
“We confronted them with metered data of all premises. They didn’t like that. They wanted to transfer us to Band A and presented us with a N25m bill the following month. We approached the courts and got an injunction against arbitrary transfer, but the situation remains unresolved.”
The ongoing power challenges underscore the struggles many public institutions face in maintaining affordable electricity while navigating contentious billing practices by electricity distribution companies.