The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has described the power outage at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, as a national embarrassment, attributing it to a vendor-customer crisis.
The minister made this statement during a meeting with the Managing Director of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Engineer Francis Agoh, to discuss the restoration of power to UCH, which has been without electricity for the past three months.
Following the meeting, it was agreed that power would be restored to the clinical section of Nigeria’s foremost health institution within the next 48 hours.
The electricity crisis at UCH is linked to the hospital’s disconnection from the national grid by IBEDC due to an outstanding debt of approximately N500 million.
Tribune Online reports that some students of the University of Ibadan staged a peaceful protest, led by Aweda Bolaji, while the minister was meeting with the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Professor Jesse Abiodun Otegbayo.
The students expressed their grievances over the hardships they have endured in the past three months, as the hospital remains in total darkness following its disconnection from the national grid by IBEDC. (Nigerian Tribune)
