The University College Hospital in Ibadan, Oyo State has been disconnected from the power supply by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) due to an outstanding debt of N500 million, according to The PUNCH.
Jesse Otegbayo (Dr.), the Chief Medical Director of UCH, acknowledged the disconnection but did not disclose the reason behind it.
However, IBEDC’s spokesperson, Busolami Tunwase, refuted the disconnection claim, stating that although UCH owes the company about N500 million, a technical fault caused the power outage despite repeated appeals to settle the debt.
“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.
