Reps question UNIJOS power cut, huge electricity bill

The House of Representatives has promised to intervene in the electricity bill hike and disconnection of the University of Jos from the main power supply.

The Jos Electricity Distribution Company, in its reclassification of electricity consumers, classified the university under its Band A distribution.

The development resulted in high bills, leading to the disconnection of the institution by the electricity distribution company.

The appeal for intervention, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, was made by the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Tanko Ishaya, during the visit by members of the House of Representatives Committee on University Education, to the university.

Prof Ishaya called on the committee to intervene over the disconnection of the school from public light by the electricity distribution company, thus plunging the community into darkness for over a month.

He said before the grouping of electricity customers which placed the university in Band A, the electricity bill of the school stood at N20m to N25m per month.

“But with the classification, the bill jumps to about N79m to N80m every month, which is practically impossible to be paid due to lack of funds,” he said.

The vice chancellor said since the university could not meet up with the payment, he asked the JEDC to remove it from Band A, adding that the management was finding it difficult to pay the regular bill of about N25m per month.

Speaking, the Chairman of the House committee, Hon Abubakar Fulata, said such a hike was unacceptable, promising to work with other relevant committees, Ministries, Departments Agencies and stakeholders to ensure the issue was addressed as soon as possible.

Speaking further on the visit to the institution, Fulata said his committee was determined to do everything within its powers to improve the standard of education.

He stressed the need to ensure that the federal character principle was adhered to in recruitment in federal universities.

He said that a federal university, since it is not a state-owned institution, must fairly capture every state in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory.

He said the committee was examining how the previous allocations from the Federal Government and the internally generated revenue were utilised to ensure compliance with the Appropriation Act.

He said the committee was aware of the roles of the university council, which included employment, and promotion, among others, stressing, however, that the power of appropriation was vested in the parliament.

A member of the committee, Hon Victor Ogene, called on the authorities of the University of Jos to judiciously use the available resources allocated to it.

He said that the university, like any other government body, might not get all that was required in terms of funds, adding that effective and efficient use of available funds would help.