The Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has countered the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) over allegation of deaths of some patients’ on life support due to disconnection of power supply.
AKTH has on Sunday expressed deep concern over the tragedy, noting that the loss of lives could have been averted if power supply had been sustained.
But responding, the KEDCO’s Head of Corporate Communications, Sani Bala Sani, said the hospital is just trying to blackmail them as the light had been restored “even before the outburst”.
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Sani said the incident arose from an ongoing procedure to separate the main hospital campus and health facilities from the staff residential complex.
He said, “The main campus and health facilities are connected to the top-priority 33kV Zaria Road feeder, enjoying an average of 22 hours of daily supply under Band A services.
“However, AKTH management has continued to insist that staff residential homes remain on the same feeder as the critical hospital facilities. This has posed repeated risks to the stability and reliability of the hospital’s dedicated power supply.
“Several attempts by KEDCO to separate the residential homes from the health facilities were unsuccessful due to the management’s resistance. Unfortunately, this led to a severe fault, which caused the recent outage we have consistently sought to prevent.
“To safeguard uninterrupted power to the hospital, KEDCO is proceeding with the separation of the two supply lines. This measure is necessary to guarantee reliability, safety, and improved quality of service to the hospital,” KEDCO explained.
The DisCo also alleged no payment has been made for the electricity consumed at the residential complex of the hospital, thereby having negative impact on both the quality of supply and KEDCO’s economic sustainability.
The Kano DisCo also claimed that in a letter dated August 12, 2025, KEDCO’s Chief Commercial Officer, Muhammad Aminu Dantata, notified the AKTH Chief Medical Director of the planned withdrawal of electricity services from the staff quarters and non-essential areas of the hospital due to partial settlement of monthly electricity bills.
The letter highlighted that: “Despite repeated appeals, the hospital continues to make only partial monthly payments.
“This has resulted in an outstanding electricity liability of ₦949,880,922.45 as of August 2025.
“The hospital was requested to settle its August 2025 bill of ₦108,957,582.29 in full within ten working days to avoid service withdrawal from the affected locations,” the letter stated.
The company said it remains fully committed to providing uninterrupted electricity to AKTH as a foremost health institution while ensuring the integrity of its operations.