Academic activities have been paralysed at Ahmadu Bello University with students remaining at home for almost a month following electricity supply crisis rocking the institution.
Checks revealed that the university is owing Kaduna Electric a huge sum of accumulated bill, prompting the supplier to disconnect power to the school on May 15, 2023.
The university is also battling to settle the outstanding allowances of over a hundred pensioners who won a court case recently.
It was learnt that the school management has paid N40 million out of the electricity bill.
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But Kaduna Electric was yet to reconnect the university despite the part payment, forcing the management to put on hold all its academic activities.
In a bulletin published May 15 on the electricity bill crisis, the school management said students’ resumption for the second semester earlier slated for Monday, May 29 has now been put on hold.
“Accordingly, students would be kept posted when a new date for the resumption is decided soonest by the Senate of Ahmadu Bello University,” the bulletin said.
After series of meetings and stakeholders’ engagement on the lingering crisis, the university management, in another bulletin dated Saturday May 20, said it could not afford to pay its outstanding bills of over N100 million every month.
The bulletin reads in part, “It has been five days now since the disconnection of the electricity supply to the university only after payment of over N40 million to the service providers.
“To say the least, the university, at the moment, cannot foot the outstanding bills of over N100 million every month with its yearly average overhead funding of about N150 million.”
The bulletin further explained that the university management has since written to the federal government to inform it of the institution’s lingering power situation and it is currently in contact with relevant government officials over the matter.
When contacted, the university’s director of public affairs, Auwal Umar referred our correspondent to series of the university’s bulletins.
“Whatever information you need regarding the matter, you can as well get them in our bulletins. So, check,” he said.
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