52 federal universities of Nigeria may close over electricity tax hike

52 federal universities of Nigeria may close over electricity tax hike

The Committee of Vice Chancellors of Universities of Nigeria (CVCNU) warned that 52 federal universities may close over a massive increase in electricity taxes. This warning came after a recent hike in electricity taxes which raised the overhead costs of 52 universities.

Following the price increase by power distribution companies of Nigeria (Discos), the electricity bills of affected universities increased by more than 300 percent.

Earlier in the month, the Vice Chancellors had requested the Federal Government of Nigeria to grant the universities a discounted rate on their electricity bills. The motive behind this request was to reduce the financial burden of affected universities from excessive electricity rates.

*Nigerian Vice Chancellors of Universities wrote a letter to the federal government to give them concession on electricity rates*

Prof. Yakubu Ochefu is the secretary and spokesperson of CVCNU. He warned if the federal government does not force the Discos to lower the electricity rates. Then, 52 federal universities in Nigeria may close soon due to high overhead costs

According to him, roughly 10 of the 62 federal universities in the country already have solar power plants. The federal government of Nigeria (FG) supports solar systems in ten universities.

However, he emphasized that the other 52 must depend on the Discos for electricity supply because it has proven massively expensive for them to generate power independently.

*Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, the secretary and spokesperson of CVCNU*

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Prof. Yakuba said the government supports solar power installations in several universities such as the University of Agriculture in Makurdi. They produce their own energy. So, they are independent of Discos’ massive taxes.

However, the other 52 majority universities face a greater risk of becoming non-functional as they don’t have solar power systems or government relief.

Prof Yakubu also revealed that they wrote a letter to Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to inform him about this high alert. They cannot maintain the functionalities of federal universities in such circumstances. So, he must need to act on it.