IBADAN DISCO DRAGS UCH TO NERC OVER N217M INDEBTEDNESS

T

he management of Ibadan Distribution Company has dragged the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) arbitration panel over N217 million indebtedness.

Manager, Business Hub Commercial of IBEDC, Bamidele Falade told the NERC panel sitting in Ibadan that the management decided to involve third party intervention because of the huge debts UCH is owing the distribution company.

Falade made it known that the company had appealed to the management of UCH on why they should pay their outstanding debt of N217 million but to no avail.

According to the IBEDC Commercial Manager, they are constrained in disconnecting their electricity due to the services they render but they have ignored paying bills despite several dialogue and appeal. In his words, "The huge outstanding debt is affecting our operations. UCH is the only hospital that has refused to pay the electricity debt among the hospitals within our franchise areas. We urge NERC as an independent arbitration to assist in imploring the UCH management to pay.”

Falade said that the hospital which monthly bill was between N20 million and N24 million enjoys 22-hours constant power supply daily. ''If we have the money they owe us, we will be comfortable. It will strengthen our operations. We appeal to the commission panel to instruct the UCH management to give definite timeline for the payment of the debt.

The IBEDC boss was of the view that the distribution company has increased effective power distributions to UCH yet, it refused to pay. Long-standing debts are the biggest worry of the electricity distribution company. The company is grappling with too many issues and UCH debt is a burden too big for the Disco to bear.

Reacting to the issue, Mr. Yemi Shiyanbola, Director of Administration, UCH admitted owing the debt but appealed to the Disco to give them ample time to settle the bills.

Shiyanbola said that the management was constrained due to the low subvention received from Federal Government. He added that the government had promised to take over payment of electricity bills of all federal hospitals, but this has not taken effect.

He lauded the management of IBEDC for the effective service and expressed appreciation for its patience toward the huge debt.

He said that the management was paid the sum of N143 million from January to September.

Shiyanbola added that, "We are not disputing the debt because it's accurate, but we are appealing to IBEDC for easy mode of billing because we are struggling to pay the little we could from our internal revenue generated because government subvention given to us is very low. Henceforth, we promise and agree that we will ensure 100 per cent payment of our monthly bills while we spread the outstanding debt for easy payment.”

He told the NERC panel that UCH will have a meeting and revert back to NERC on payment modality.

However, Mr Yinka Oseni, chairman of NERC arbitration panel told both parties to see NERC as an objective arbitrator, adding that the panel was there to mediate between the two parties.

Oseni said that the essence of the arbitration panel was to hear both parties and advise accordingly, while advising the parties to see themselves as partners in progress. He said: “I am happy that you admitted to owing the debt, this shows that there is no dispute. It is really a huge debt which will definitely affect the IBEDC operation. "We decided to invite both parties to the panel to give them fair hearing. The management of UCH should try and comply with the agreement reached on payment mode to avoid confrontation," he advised.

Oseni told UCH to ensure prompt monthly payment of its bill, while asking it to spread the other debt for payment convenience. He urged UCH management to report back to the panel within a month on its debt payment schedule.