University of Lagos has been thrown into darkness over electricity debt.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has thrown the University of Lagos (Unilag) into darkness over an unpaid debt of about N200 million for the institution’s electricity consumption.
However, the university authorities, claimed the institution has never failed to settle its electricity bill monthly, stating that it has paid up to June 2021.
Although the university’s authorities have now resorted to generators to power some areas, rationing the supply between the administrative area and staff quarters, Unilag claimed it has paid a total of N1.123 billion in electricity tariff to EKEDC in the last 17 months from January last year.
The university’s spokesperson, Nonye Oguama, while confirming the development in an interview with Sunday Tribune, lamented that the electricity bill being served each month on the university by EKEDC keeps rising each day.
Oguama stated that the university could not just cope with meeting up with the exorbitant monthly bill because of its other financial obligations as a social service and not a commercial purpose institution.
According to her, EKEDC ought to have factored in this position in billing the university.
The University Spokesperson, however, declared that she could not categorically say when the university would be able to resolve the matter as there is no money.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, also confirmed that the university had paid N1.123 billion for the electricity tariff from January 2020 to June 2021.
Ogundipe noted that the whopping sum, which could not be disconnected from the high electricity tariff in the country and estimated billings, was paid from the institution’s internally generated revenues monthly, stressing that it was draining the university’s purse.
While giving a breakdown of the electricity bill paid by the university in the last 17 months, the Vice Chancellor said the “N51 million was paid in January 2020; N50 million in February: N58 million in March and N62 million in April,” of the same year.
According to him, the amount dropped to N26 million in May 2020 during the general lock-down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and further dropped to N21 million in June, but went up to N24 million in July; N25 million in August and N26 million in September.
Ogundipe said, “So, in October, when activities started coming up again, we had N56 million bill and it dropped again in November to N29 million before it skyrocketed to N81 million in December when the electricity tariff was increased generally in the country by the power distribution company.
“Since then, [EKEDC] has been bringing huge bill every month; N84 million in January; N79 million in February and it rose to N85 million in March when our students started coming back to hostels; N88 million in April and jumped up to as high as N181 million in May and came down again to N118 million in June.
“So, in the period covering 17 months, we paid a sum of N1.123 billion on electricity and the amount is just too high for the university to cope with,” Ogundipe stressed, adding that the bills are just too high for the university to maintain.
“Even companies that are making profit cannot find it easy to be coughing up such a huge amount of money for electricity every month.”
