THE Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Professor Jesse Abiodun Otegbayo has said he met a huge energy debt of N300m when he assumed office in 2019 dismissing the claims that the energy problem started when he got to office.
He disclosed this to Sunday Vanguard yesterday. According to him, the energy problem which the teaching hospital is trying to solve had been there before he assumed office in 2019.
He took exception to a report which claimed that the energy problem wasn’t there before he assumed office as the Chief Medical Director of the hospital.
Making clarifications on the claims, he said, the report “drew a very misleading conclusion that the energy problem of UCH was not there until this administration and that we concentrate on buying diesel rather than paying IBEDC.”
“This is far from the truth. Apart from the fact that Band A issue arose during this administration, I met a huge energy debt of about 300 million left by my predecessor. We have paid over three billion naira to IBEDC since I took over in 2019.”
“The bill of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan is also added to the Hospital’s bill.”
Corroborating the CMD’s reaction to the issue, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, said in a television interview that the energy problem has been in the hospital for several years.
Pate said, “This has been a story of several years of accumulated debts to the distribution company”.
While commending the actions taken by the CMD, the Minister said, “The CMD has done an incredibly good job people may not want to acknowledge by transiting to an off grid power. He solarized many of the wards, theatres and GOPDs.”
“It’s not as if the hospital is not functioning; it’s only it’s functioning within certain bounds. I can show you the pictures of UCH at night three days ago. It’s not as if they are in darkness”.
“The challenge the CMD has is that UCH power was connected to the University of Ibadan and there are also private entities within the hospital. So, the hospital is paying for the energy it consumes as well as others including residences that are within the perimeter. The hospital bears the burdens of those who are not even working in the hospital”.
The Minister stressed further that the Federal Government is working seriously on how to find lasting solution to the energy problems in all the teaching hospitals across the country.
