The Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities has warned that about 52 Federal universities may collapse in the country soon over the recent hike in electricity tariff which has increased their overhead costs.
These VCs gave the warning after the tariff hike by the Discos increased the electricity bill of the federal universities by over 300 per cent.
Recall that the VCs had earlier last month asked the Federal Government to provide a concessionary electricity tariff rate for the universities.
They said the appeal was based on the need to alleviate the financial burden of high electricity tariffs on these institutions.
However, speaking with our correspondent on Friday, Secretary to the CVCNU, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, said if the Federal Government did not prevail on the Discos to reduce the electricity tariff, 52 federal universities might collapse soon as high overhead cost will cripple their operations.
He said the Federal Government had already funded solar power plants for about 10 out of the 62 federal universities in the country, leaving the remaining 52 institutions to rely on the Discos for electricity supply as generating power independently has proven very costly for them.
“The Federal Government has funded solar power plants in some universities like the University of Agriculture in Makurdi. [/b]They don’t depend on the Discos as they generate their own power. But there are less than 10 federal universities that have such solar power plants out of about 62 federal universities, which means 52 others do not have.
[b]“That is why we say in the interim, they should remove us from Band A and create a discretionary band for educational establishments so that we can be paying the rates we are paying before or something slightly higher. But to pay the commercial rates that everybody is paying is not sustainable. It will cripple the operations of the university.
Peoplesmind
