The University of Lagos, UNILAG, has been thrown into darkness after power supply was disconnected from the insititution by Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) over unpaid electricity bills.

This was made known in a statement by the university management on Wednesday, August 28.

EKEDC recently upgraded the university’s tariff category from “Band B” to “Band A,” resulting in a hike in monthly electricity bills.

Before the upgrade, UNILAG was paying between N150 million and N180 million monthly.

However, the June bill under the new “Band A” tariff nearly doubled, reaching almost N300 million.

The institution’s management expressed regret over the blackout that has hit the campus since Tuesday.

The management explained that despite ongoing negotiations with EKEDC and a recent payment of N180 million on August 20, the university was disconnected from the power supply on August 27, without any prior notice.

“Just two weeks after our meeting, we were hit with a staggering bill of nearly half a billion naira (N472 million) for July, further increasing our debt burden!

“We kept our promise and paid N180 million on August 20, yet on August 27, EKEDC disconnected us without notice and has refused to reconnect the university to the national grid,”  the statement read.