JUST-IN:Varsity Students may soon be charged #80,000 or more for electricity fee in varsities – VCs’ panel

The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities has said university students may likely be charged N80,000 or more to cover the high electricity tariffs.

Secretary-General, CVCNU, Prof Yakubu Ochefu, in an interview with our correspondent, said universities could not afford the over N200m they were being charged monthly for electricity.

They were charged N61m monthly before the introduction of the Band A system following the hike in electricity tariff.

 In April 2024, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission announced an increase in electricity tariff paid by Band A customers from N68/KWh to N225/KWh, which was a 300 per cent increment.

Band A customers are those who enjoy electricity supply for at least 20 hours per day.

Many universities have cried out over soaring electricity bill following the new policy.

For instance, Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Kaduna State, and the University of Benin lamented receiving N3.6bn electricity bills, averaging N300m monthly under the Band A tariff.

Also, VC, UNIBEN, Prof Lilian Salami, said the university had been disconnected from the national grid because it could not afford to pay about N300m monthly for electricity.

“Before the new tariff, universities were paying around N1bn annually, but now the cost has risen to N4bn per annum. How are they supposed to find such funds? How much is being allocated to universities for their overhead budgets?

“If the FG doesn’t step in to rescue the universities, the costs will be transferred to students as user charges, amounting to N80,000 per student. Alternatively, universities will have to limit their operations to four hours a day.

“For example, UNIBEN is currently running a generator for four hours daily, which costs them N60m a month. This is unsustainable given the need for a functioning library, internet access, and laboratory facilities,” Ochefu said.

He said vice-chancellors had written to the Federal Government and were waiting for the pro-chancellors to follow up with the request.

“The charges presented before us are unrealistic. Universities can’t afford to pay N200m or N300m monthly for electricity. The Federal Government needs to reconsider this decision. We have written to the President, requesting a concessionary rate or a return to the previous rate based on the funding provided by the FG to universities. There has been no response yet. We wrote the letter when the policy was first announced.

“The matter is now in the hands of the pro-chancellors, as it is a critical funding issue. The Vice-Chancellors have done their part,” Ochefu said.