Unpaid electricity bills: UNILAG in darkness over N300m debt

Eko Electricity Distribution Company has disconnected the power supply to the University of Lagos, Akoka, over unpaid electricity bills.

This was made known in a statement by the university management on Wednesday

According to the statement, the institution has been grappling with the burden of rising electricity costs.
This challenge was further made worse when EKEDC upgraded the university’s tariff category from “Band B” to “Band A,” resulting in a hike in monthly electricity bills.

Before the upgrade, UNILAG was said it be paying between N150 million and N180 million monthly.
However, the June bill under the new “Band A” tariff nearly doubled, reaching almost N300 million—a 100% increase that the university is struggling to manage.

The institution’s management expressed regret over the blackout that has hit the campus since Tuesday.
The management explained that despite ongoing negotiations with EKEDC and a recent payment of N180 million on August 20, the university was abruptly disconnected from the power supply on August 27, without any prior notice.

“Just two weeks after our meeting, we were hit with a staggering bill of nearly half a billion naira (N472 million) for July, further increasing our debt burden!

“We kept our promise and paid N180 million on August 20, yet on August 27, EKEDC disconnected us without notice and has refused to reconnect the university to the national grid,” ” the statement read

The management assured the university community that efforts were being made to resolve the issue with EKEDC.
It called for calm and announced that power supply across the campus would be rationed until further notice.