The management of Ibadan Distribution Company, IBEDC, has dragged the University College Hospital, Ibadan, UCH, to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, arbitration panel over N217 million accumulated debt. The Disco said it decided to involve the commission as a third party because of the huge nature of the debt by the hospital.

Speaking at the NERC panel sitting in Ibadan, Bamidele Falade, manager, business hub commercial, IBEDC, said in spite of several dialogue and appeal to the hospital, they had ignored paying bills, which have accumulated that much. He explained that owing to the nature of the services they render, and how vital electricity is to their work, it has become rather difficult for the company to disconnect them.

Falade, who noted how the debt is affecting their operation, also revealed that UCH is the only hospital that has refused to pay electricity bills among the hospitals within their franchise areas, “We therefore urge NERC as an independent arbitration to assist in imploring the UCH management to pay,” he said.

While pleading to NERC to instruct the UCH management to give a definite timeline for payment, Falade stated that the hospital enjoys 22 hours of power supply daily and monthly bill of between N20 million and N24 million.

On his part, Yemi Shiyanbola, director of administration, the UCH, admitted that the hospital owes the debt but pleaded with the Disco to give them ample time to settle the debt. He attributed the accumulated debt to the low subvention received from the federal government.

He said hospital only received the sum of N143 million from January to September 2018, adding that the government has promised to takeover payment of electricity bills of all federal hospitals. “We are not disputing the debt because it’s accurate, but we are appealing to IBEDC for easy mode of billing, because we are struggling to pay the little we could from our internal generated revenue,” he said.

Shiyanbola, however, promised to ensure 100 percent payment of monthly bills going forward while the outstanding is spread for easy payment and also agreed to revert back to the panel on payment modalities.

Meanwhile, Yinka Oseni, chairman, the NERC arbitration panel, who described the debt as huge acknowledged the UCH for admitting to the debt because it shows there is no dispute. He urged the UCH management to report back to the panel within a month on its debt payment schedule and also advised them to comply with the agreement reached on payment mode to avoid confrontation.

– Sept. 28, 2018 @ 17:52 GMT |