The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) has announced that university students may likely be charged N80,000 or more to cover the high electricity tariffs.
This decision comes in response to the recent hike in electricity tariffs by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which saw rates increase from N66 to N225 per kilowatt-hour for various distribution companies (DisCos) across the country.
Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, Secretary-General of CVCNU, highlighted the financial strain on universities due to the new Band A tariff system introduced in April 2024. Under this system, institutions like Ahmadu Bello University and the University of Benin have reported monthly electricity bills averaging N300 million, a significant increase from the previous N61 million. The University of Ilorin's electricity bill, for instance, surged from N70 million to N230 million monthly.
The exorbitant costs have led to some universities being disconnected from the national grid, as seen with the University of Benin, which could not afford its N300 million monthly bill. Babcock University also reported paying N300 million in May alone. Consequently, universities are now spending around N4 billion annually on electricity, up from N1 billion before the tariff hike.
To mitigate these costs, universities are considering passing the burden onto students through user charges, potentially amounting to N80,000 per student. Alternatively, they may limit their operations to just four hours a day, as seen with UNIBEN, which currently runs a generator for four hours daily at a cost of N60 million per month.
Experts have suggested that universities should explore generating their own power to reduce reliance on the national grid. Institutions like the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University have already begun initiatives to develop alternative energy sources, such as solar power plants, despite the high initial costs and technical challenges.
The CVCNU has appealed to the Federal Government for a concessionary rate or a return to the previous tariff structure, emphasizing the unsustainable nature of the current costs. They have written to the President and are awaiting a response, hoping for government intervention to alleviate the financial burden on universities and prevent the transfer of these costs to students.
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