The Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has asked Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) to clear its outstanding debt of N949.88 million as of August or risk disconnection.
In a statement on Monday, KEDCO’s Head of Corporate Communications, Sani Bala, said the hospital must also settle its August bill of N108.95 million in full within 10 working days.
Bala criticized the non-payment for electricity consumed at the hospital’s residential complex, warning that the debt burden was affecting KEDCO’s service delivery and operations.
He recalled that in a letter dated August 12, signed by Chief Commercial Officer Muhammad Aminu, the company had notified AKTH of plans to withdraw supply from staff quarters and non-essential areas due to partial settlement of bills.
Despite the warning, Bala assured that electricity supply to critical health facilities would remain a priority. “KEDCO remains committed to providing uninterrupted electricity to the hospital as a foremost health institution while appealing for its cooperation on the separation exercise,” he said.
According to him, electricity was restored after KEDCO began separating the hospital’s main campus and health facilities from staff quarters and residential areas. The hospital currently receives power through the 33KVA Zaria Road feeder, providing an average of 22 hours of daily supply under Band A services.
However, Bala noted that AKTH management had resisted separating the staff quarters from the main hospital line, a move he said repeatedly threatened supply reliability. The resistance, he added, eventually led to a severe fault that caused a recent outage.
“To safeguard uninterrupted supply to the hospital, the company proceeded with the separation of the two supply lines,” Bala explained.
AKTH serves as the teaching hospital for Bayero University, Kano.