In a move aimed at alleviating the financial burden on public hospitals, the federal government has approved a 50% subsidy on their electricity bills.
The decision, announced by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, is expected to significantly reduce the running costs of public hospitals and ultimately benefit patients.
The subsidy is a fulfillment of a promise made by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, to subsidize electricity in hospitals and universities, even if they are on Band-A feeders.
However, Adelabu noted that private businesses operating within ‘these institutions’ would not be eligible for the subsidy.
According to him, the government is aware that universities and hospitals are facing challenges in paying their electricity bills.
However, he emphasized the need to meter all businesses within these institutions to prevent subsidizing private entities that charge their customers commercially.
"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," Adelabu said.
The minister explained that the government is compiling data to ensure that only health and education-related activities receive the subsidy.
"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," he stated.
This move comes after universities and public hospitals complained about skyrocketing electricity bills following the removal of subsidies for Band A customers.
The College of Medicine of the University of Lagos and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital recently cried out over an outrageous electricity bill of N280m for May, a significant increase from their usual payment of less than N100m.
The approval of the subsidy is a welcome relief for public hospitals, which have been struggling to cope with the high cost of electricity.
The subsidy will enable them to allocate more resources to patient care and improve their services.
However, the Ministry of Power has yet to provide details of the subsidy arrangement, including how it will be implemented and how much it will cost the government.
The minister's spokesman, Bolaji Tunji, promised to revert with more information.
