The management of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has reportedly disconnected the University of Benin (UNIBEN) following an unresolved dispute over contentious electricity billing.
The disconnection has plunged the entire university campus into darkness. A visit by The Guardian correspondent revealed that the school now relies on generating sets for power. Several offices and hostel facilities, including the Secretariat of the ASUU UNIBEN Chapter, were found to be without public electricity.
The university management expressed discontent after the Benin Disco reportedly made an upward revision of the institution’s monthly electricity charges by over 200 per cent.
A source, who requested anonymity, stated, “The University was paying about N80 million for electricity consumption. However, the Disco suddenly increased it to between N200 and N280 million.
“Following the development and the inability of the university to pay for the utility, BEDC disconnected electricity supply to the university. The school has since grappled with unstable electricity supply due to its sole dependence on power-generating sets. The implication is that we can’t deliver official work 100 per cent because it is only the administrative block that the generator can power throughout working hours.”
When contacted, the Head of Branding and Corporate Communications of BEDC, Mrs. Evelyn Gbiwen, attributed the increase in energy tariff to a directive from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Gbiwen said, “In one month, they (UNIBEN) were billed over N200 million, they paid N79 million. The following month, they were billed above N100 million, and they are still owing.
“It is a general policy that when customers don’t pay their bills, they will be disconnected. And it is when such a customer pays his bills that he would be reconnected.”
On her part, UNIBEN’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Dr. Benedicta Ehanire, denied the allegation that the institution owes BEDC.
She said, “UNIBEN is neither indebted nor is the institution owing BEDC a dime. They shot up the monthly bill from N80 million to N250 million. And the school said the action was not acceptable. That is the bone of contention.”
