50% electricity subsidy for tertiary institutions, hospital, a good development – Rep Fulata

The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has said President Bola Tinubu’s approval of a 50% electricity subsidy for universities, hospitals and other tertiary institutions is a good development.

The Chairman of the House Committee on University Education, Hon Abubakar Hassan Fulata, in a statement on Monday, thanked Mr President for his magnanimity in yielding to their call and subsidizing electricity tariffs for tertiary institutions.

Hon Fulata, who said his committee had visited over 30 federal universities in 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, in the last few weeks, stated that high electricity tariffs have affected almost all the universities in Nigeria.

“While almost all the universities are struggling to pay the high electricity tariffs, some of them have been disconnected from public light by the electricity distribution companies.

“Prior to the grouping of electricity users which placed universities in Band A (the group that pays the highest electricity tariff), the University of Jos, for instance, was paying around N20 million monthly, but after the grouping, the institution’s monthly electricity tariff jumped to over N100 million. UNIJOS is one of the universities disconnected from public light due to this challenge of high tariff.

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“So we are grateful for this decision Mr President has taken as it will go a long way in addressing the challenge of electricity supply in the tertiary institutions of learning in the country.

“This is not the first time Mr. President has listened and yielded to our call for improvement in the educational sector. We talked about the issue of IPPIS, which brought a heavy burden on university management, such as seeking permission from about 7 MDAs before even a cleaner could be recruited. Mr. President listened and approved the removal of tertiary institutions from IPPIS. He also yielded to our call for reconstituting the councils for tertiary institutions,” Fulata said.

Hon Fulata expressed confidence that irrespective of political affiliation, ethnic, and religious differences, the lawmakers will continue to partner with the executive arm and relevant stakeholders to improve the standard of education in the country.

Minister of State for Health, Tunji Alausa, broke the news of the 50% electricity subsidy for tertiary institutions and hospitals in Kaduna recently.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has magnanimously approved a 50% electricity subsidy for all public hospitals, universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education,” he said.

Alausa said the Ministry of Power is already working out the subsidy payment modalities.