The Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has threatened to disconnect the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) over an outstanding debt of ₦949.88 million.
In a statement signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, Sani Bala, KEDCO gave the hospital 10 working days to settle its August electricity bill of ₦108.95 million or face disconnection.
Bala said the federal teaching hospital, which is part of Bayero University, was notified on 12 August of plans to cut supply to its staff quarters and non-essential areas after making only partial payments.
He recalled that the warning was contained in a letter signed by the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, Muhammad Aminu.
He, however, assured that power supply to health facilities offering critical and life-saving services would remain a top priority.
According to him, services have already been restored to AKTH following an ongoing process to separate the main hospital campus from its staff quarters and residential complex.
Bala expressed concern over the huge unpaid bills from the residential complex, which he said were negatively impacting KEDCO’s operations and service delivery. “No payment has been made for electricity consumed at the residential complex despite its negative impact on our operations,” he said.
He explained that AKTH’s main campus and health facilities are connected to a top-priority 33KVA Zaria Road feeder and currently enjoy an average of 22 hours of daily supply under Band A services.
However, he said management had resisted efforts to place the staff quarters on a separate feeder, a move KEDCO believes is necessary to ensure stable supply to the hospital.
According to Bala, several attempts to split the supply lines failed due to management’s objections, eventually causing a severe fault and a recent outage.
KEDCO has now moved ahead with separating the two lines to safeguard uninterrupted electricity to the hospital’s essential services.
