AHMADU Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has been cut off from the national power grid by Kaduna Electric due to its inability to settle outstanding electricity bills.
The disconnection, which took effect on Thursday, November 28, 2024, plunged the institution into darkness.
According to a bulletin issued by the university’s management on Friday, November 29, the institution has struggled to cope with rising electricity tariffs introduced earlier this year.
It noted that despite paying over one billion naira in electricity bills to Kaduna Electric since January, the university is said to owe a huge electricity debt.
The university’s management revealed that significant funds, which could have been used for statutory functions, were diverted to cover diesel costs to maintain power on campus.
The management appealed to the students and university community for understanding while it continued efforts to resolve the issue.
“The university has been facing difficulty in footing the monthly electricity bills following an increment in electricity tariffs early this year. ABU has been able to pay the sum of over one billion naira in electricity bills to the company since January this year, in addition to a huge amount of money expended for diesel. This is even at the expense of the critical statutory functions of the university.
“Meanwhile, university management appeals to members of the university community for understanding as the management is making frantic efforts to foot the bills,” the statement read.
This development, however, is part of a growing trend of disconnections by electricity companies targeting public institutions over unpaid bills.
For instance, the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Ibadan (UI), the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos (CMUL), University of Benin, amongst other institutions have struggled to pay electricity bills, according to a Premium Times report.
In August, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) disconnected UNILAG from the power grid over an outstanding debt of N472 million, with the university claiming that its monthly electricity bill, which previously ranged between N150 million and N180 million, surged to nearly N300 million.
it noted that the surge followed EKEDC’s decision to upgrade its tariff band from Band B to Band A in June.
The ICIR reported that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in April, approved a tariff hike for Band A customers, who they claimed enjoy up to 20 hours of power supply.
Many Nigerian institutions were also moved to Band A even despite protests by the institutions on their inability to pay the bill for the Band A users.
This development elicited reactions from consumers and industry stakeholders who described distribution companies’ failure to meet up with power supply as structured by supply-service reflective tariffs as unfair.
By computation, the Band A tariff customers enjoy 20 hours and above of electricity supply daily, Band B offers a minimum of 16 hours but less than 20 hours, Band C gives a minimum of 12 hours but less than 16 hours, Band D provides a minimum of eight hours but less than 12 hours, and Band E makes less than eight hours available to customers.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M