The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has directed the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to restore power to more sections of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
The directive follows the commencement of an indefinite strike by the hospital’s resident doctors over the continued blackout in their residential areas.
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Mr Adelabu, represented by his Special Adviser on Strategic Communications and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, gave the directive at a follow-up meeting on Monday, 17 February, involving representatives from UCH, the University of Ibadan, IBEDC, and technical experts.
The minister ordered IBEDC to extend power restoration to the College of Medicine and the halls of residence.
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Last week, IBEDC reconnected UCH’s clinical areas to the national grid after over 100 days of outage. However, resident doctors under the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) decried the exclusion of residential quarters, threatening to down tools if power was not restored by Monday.
The doctors argued that the affected areas had prepaid meters with substantial credit yet remained without electricity.
More clarifications
While the residents’ doctors have already commenced strike, Mr Tunji explained to PREMIUM TIMES that the delay in reconnecting their quarters was due to procedural issues from UCH management.
“The Minister has asked that the resident doctors’ area should be connected. But IBEDC is requesting UCH to put in writing that they would be responsible for the electricity bills,” he said.
He further explained that UCH is a complex entity managed by different administrations.
“The College of Medicine and the student residence are under the sole responsibility of the University of Ibadan, while the Clinical Services (hospital), doctors’ quarters, and other residential buildings, including commercial entities like banks and shops, are under UCH. That’s why the minister advised that they should be separated,” he added.
As part of the latest resolutions, Mr Adelabu directed that a new transformer be dedicated to UCH’s clinical areas while another would be installed for the College of Medicine.
He emphasised that the dispute was a “customer-vendor issue” between UCH and IBEDC, not a federal government matter, but assured that his ministry was intervening to prevent further disruptions.
“Let me tell you that this is not the first time this crisis will be coming up. It was not a crisis that was initiated by the federal government or which the federal government was speaking to,” he said.
“It was a customer-vendor relationship issue between UCH and IBEDC. We are only intervening as the parents of this institution, and we are not happy that it has been in darkness for so long.”
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UCH blackout
UCH has been grappling with persistent power outages due to unpaid electricity debt owed to IBEDC.
The hospital was disconnected from the national grid on 26 October 2024, leading to disruptions in hospital operations and protests by students demanding urgent intervention.
PREMIUM TIMES reported in November 2024 that UCH management confirmed that IBEDC intentionally disconnected the power supply over an outstanding debt of approximately N400 million, part of a staggering N3.1 billion accumulated bill since 2019.
However, after more than 100 days without electricity, IBEDC reconnected UCH to the national grid on Wednesday following the intervention of Mr Adelabu.
