A group of young professionals under the banner of Legacy Stars of Ibadan (LSI), an affiliate of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration and the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, to investigate the current and past management of the University College Hospital (UCH) over the last decade.
The group emphasised that such an investigation is crucial to resolving the persistent power outages plaguing the teaching hospital, reports The Nation.
In a statement released after their monthly meeting at Ibadan House, Oke Aremo, LSI highlighted the recurring disconnection of UCH from the power grid due to unpaid debts to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
IBEDC had previously cut off the hospital’s electricity supply in March and again in November this year, citing unpaid debts.
LSI’s statement, signed by its President, Mogaji Saheed Oyewale, and Secretary, Barrister Kazeem Oladepo, urged the federal government and Professor Pate to take immediate action by probing the hospital’s management to ensure a lasting solution to the power crisis.
“The monthly meeting of LSI was held on Sunday, 1st December, 2024. Various issues affecting Ibadan, Oyo state and Nigeria in general were discussed and deliberated upon.
“One of the issues discussed and deliberated upon is the issue of incessant power outage at UCH and this was deliberated by members present.
“We observed at the meeting that UCH has been having power outage in the last few months. The power supply was cut off in March this year. It was resolved when some individuals intervened. Recently, the power supply was cut off due to electricity debt.
“When there is no light, major things that should be done will not be done. The hospital is facing a lot of challenges and we don’t want this to continue.
“Many people who are supposed to get medical attention in the hospital could not be attended to and this will have negative consequences on the health outcome of the people in general.
“We observed that this is an embarrassment. We want the federal government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Minister of Health and Social Welfare to beam their searchlights and probe the current management and the previous ones.
“We have heard a lot of challenges facing the hospital. UCH as a tertiary health institution should not be in this sorry condition. The federal government should do something.”
