FG grants 50% electricity subsidy to hospitals nationwide

The Federal Government has granted a 50 percent subsidy on electricity consumption for hospitals nationwide, aiming to alleviate their energy costs.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced this on Thursday during his visit to the National Neo-Psychiatric Hospital in Barnawa, Kaduna.

During the visit, he launched several key initiatives, including electronic health records, a backup power source for the Lawal Jafaru Isah Emergency Complex, and a solar-powered dialysis unit with a borehole.

According to Alausa, this gesture aims to reduce the running costs for public hospitals and alleviate the impact on patients.

This move fulfills the promise made by Minister of Power, Dr. Adebayo Adelabu, to subsidize electricity for hospitals and universities, regardless of their connection to Band-A feeders.

At a recent event in Ibadan, Adelabu clarified that while the government acknowledges the financial struggles of universities and hospitals in paying their bills, it will not provide subsidies to private entities operating within these institutions.

He said the FG was planning to meter all businesses running in each of the institutions to prevent paying subsidies to private companies.

He said: “We know they are development institutions; they are social institutions. But inside the health and educational institutions, private businesses are hiding under them.

“These people charge their customers commercially, and they expect to be subsidized because they are located within the territories of these institutions.

“We said no, go and do a proper search and meter everybody. For the ones that are properly health and education-related, we are ready to subsidize them, even if they are on Band A.

“We are compiling our data; DisCos will collect a certain amount, and the government will pay the balance.

“But we must get the data right so that we are not subsidizing a private business that is charging its customers commercially. That will be an abnormal profit, and it is unfair.”

Persecondnews recalls that the removal of subsidies for Band A customers, who now receive a minimum of 20 hours of electricity daily, has led to a significant increase in electricity bills for universities and public hospitals.

The College of Medicine at the University of Lagos and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital have recently expressed concerns over the unusually high electricity bills they received from the Eko Electricity Distribution Company for the month of May.

The institutions said they were jointly presented with a bill of about N280 million for May instead of the less than N100 million they used to pay.

The Ministry of Power has not provided specific information on the subsidy arrangement for the affected institutions, but the spokesperson, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, promised an update soon.