The All Progressives Congress APC in Oyo state has described the intervention of the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, which facilitated immediate restoration of electricity supply to the University College Hospital, Ibadan as a testament to the commitment of the Tinubu administration to its Renewed Hope agenda aimed at making life better for the citizenry.
Following the reports of the disconnection of power supply to the UCH by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over an alleged indebtedness of the management of the teaching hospital owned by the federal government, Chief Adelabu led a delegation from Abuja to have a meeting with the relevant parties in Ibadan on Monday and this step yielded a positive result almost immediately.
In a statement issued on Tuesday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC regretted that the state government of the PDP under the administration of Engr. Seyi Makinde turned a blind eye at the tertiary health instruction which mostly serves the people of the state. The UCH which is a stone throw away from the office of Gov. Makinde had to be without electricity supply for about three months as this had its negative effects on the productivity of the staff and students as well as numerous patients but the state government looked away.
“It is a thing of joy that the Minister visited Ibadan yesterday with a magic wand and all issues between the managements of the UCH and IBEDC were amicably resolved as reports have it that power supply has been restored now. We hereby express our profound gratitude to President Bola Tinubu who gave the Minister his kind permission to intervene and save the situation for the sake of the citizenry as well as the image of the country in view of the fact that the UCH is a globally recognized teaching hospital.
“Interestingly, the rescue mission which brought the Minister of Power and his team to Ibadan yesterday was not all about brokering peace between the managements of the UCH and the electricity distribution company. While addressing the press after the meeting, Chief Adelabu disclosed that UCH would also be added to the list of teaching hospitals and ivory towers that had similar issue but which were able to surmount it through the Federal government intervention of Solar mini grid.
He assured that a 50 megawatts solar mini grid will be installed by the federal government to serve the University of Ibadan, the University College Hospital and the College of Medicine and the project will be completed within the first and second quarter of the year.
“With this development, the age-long erratic power supply crisis which the three institutions have had to battle would become a thing of the past and the hope of betterment would be renewed. Be that as it may, we are very much aware of the various efforts of the ministry of power under Chief Adelabu to guarantee steady electricity supply to the nooks and crannies of the country and we urge patience and cooperation from the citizens to facilitate the quick realization of the goal by the Tinubu administration.” Sadare stated.
