Bayero University, Kano, says the unsolicited debt imposed by the Kano Electricity Distribution Company, KEDCO, was responsible for the recent power outage at its College of Health Sciences (CHS), Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH).
The management of the university, in a statement issued on Wednesday, linked the power outage at the college to the unilateral migration of the college to the blue line platform by KEDCO without informing the university management.
The statement, signed by Lamara Garba, Deputy Registrar, Public Affairs, on behalf of the Acting Registrar of the institution, said the unsolicited migration prompted the disco to submit a bill of 30 million naira to the university for settlement in April 2024.
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Garba stated further that “Bayero University Management did not budget for this and was not consulted when the migration was done.”
However, the failure of the university to settle the debt led to the disconnection of the college from the national grid, according to the statement.
“When the university management was unable to settle the bill of 30 million naira, KEDCO cut off the light of the college.
“It is instructive to note that over the years, the university management has never reneged on the settlement of its electricity bills, nor has it taken a long time to settle the bills. Management has always been prompt in that regard.
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“Members of the university community, especially those at the college, are enjoined to bear with the situation as the management is making a concerted effort to restore normal power supply.
“Already, engineers from the University Maintenance Services Department (MSD) are working tirelessly to separate the college from the hospital for the settlement of bills.” Garba said.
He noted that the management of the university is also making arrangements to make sure that a power outage doesn’t affect students’ water supply in the hostels.
“The management of Bayero University, Kano, is calling on all affected by this situation to bear with it, as normal power supply will soon be restored.” He said.
Efforts to reach KEDCO’s spokesman, Bala Sani, via his mobile phone for comment on the allegation were not successful as of the time of filing this report on Wednesday afternoon.