The University College Hospital in Ibadan (UCH), Oyo State power supply was disconnected by Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over N500 million debt.
The IBEDC spokesperson, Busolami Tunwase, denied that the teaching hospital was disconnected, even as she confirmed that it owed the DisCo about N500m. She said that there was a technical fault that led to a power outage in UCH, though the hospital had repeatedly ignored several appeals to pay its debt.
The Chief Medical Director of UCH, Dr Jesse Otegbayo, confirmed on Thursday that the hospital was disconnected by IBEDC but declined to disclose the cause of the disconnection.
“UCH is owing us, it is correct. They owe about N500m. We have written to them more than four times. We have called for a meeting so that we can sit down and discuss and spread the debt even if they cannot pay once. We just want to know how to get our money.
“We have kept it this far because we understand the critical nature of the UCH and the lives involved. There is no way we will just go and disconnect them.
“But currently, there is a fault around that area. There is a local fault around that area; that is what necessitated this outage. It is just a coincidence that this one is coming when we are trying to get them to sit down with us to have a meeting on how to settle their debt,” Tunwase stated.
