Oyo APC and State Government Disagree Over Cause of UCH Power Outage
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State and the state government are currently engaged in a dispute over the persistent electricity crisis at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
The hospital has been facing ongoing power outages for over a year, with the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) cutting off the hospital’s electricity supply in March 2024 due to accumulated debts. After several disconnections, the hospital’s power was again cut on October 27, 2024, leading to protests from medical students and other University of Ibadan students.
In response to the crisis, Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, visited the hospital to facilitate a resolution. Following the meeting with various stakeholders, an agreement was reached to restore the electricity supply within 48 hours.
The APC has lauded the intervention of Minister Adelabu, hailing it as an example of the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to the Renewed Hope agenda. In a statement signed by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Wasiu Olawale Sadare, the APC expressed satisfaction that the issue was resolved, especially after the state government had allegedly ignored the problem.
“It is a thing of joy that the Minister visited Ibadan yesterday with a magic wand and all issues between the managements of UCH and IBEDC were amicably resolved,” Sadare said. He further added that the resolution would end the long-standing power crisis that has plagued the hospital.
However, the state government responded sharply to the APC’s statement, calling it “unfortunate.” Sulaimon Olanrewaju, Special Adviser on Media to Governor Seyi Makinde, insisted that the state government was not responsible for the crisis. Olanrewaju argued that the electricity issue at UCH was due to the Federal Government’s failure to fulfill its promise of subsidizing electricity costs for hospitals.
Last year, Minister Adelabu had publicly stated that the Federal Government would subsidize electricity for teaching hospitals after the categorization of electricity users into bands. Olanrewaju pointed out that six months later, this promise had not been honored, leaving UCH to face the consequences.
Olanrewaju criticized the APC for politicizing the issue, saying, “The fact is that the problem at UCH was not caused by the Oyo State Government, but by the failure of the Federal Government to live up to its promise.”
He continued, “Had the Federal Government fulfilled its promise of subsidizing electricity, UCH would not be in this situation.” Olanrewaju also questioned whether the APC would hold the Federal Government accountable for similar electricity issues in other hospitals across the country, such as the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
In a tense exchange, the state government accused the APC of playing politics with the suffering of the people, emphasizing that the real issue was the Federal Government’s unfulfilled promise, which directly impacted the hospital’s operations.
