The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) Lagos is on collision course with Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) Plc following threat to disconnect the institute from the national grid if it fails to pay N89 million accumulated electricity bills.

EKEDC last week stated that the failure of the NIMR to make payment on or before April 28 would result in withdrawal of its services.

However, the NIMR Director-General Oladapo Obafunwa challenged the over N89 million estimated electricity bills out of which N52 million was for March.

The body described the monthly bills as extremely outrageous and improper, and criticised the electricity company for placing the institute under “Band A Tariff.”

Obafunwa recalled that NIMR paid about N49 million in August last year; N48 million in September; N44 million in October; N34 million in November, and which rose again to N43 million in December; while the institute is being charged an average of N45.5 million monthly since January.

The professor said: “We have paid over N34 million to EKEDC, and again asking that we discuss which they never responded to, but to my consternation EKEDC responded with a disconnection threat.

“While we were complaining about these outrageous bills through several official letters and sending our representatives to their headquarters in Marina, requesting for dialogue to reconcile the issue, EKEDC sent a bill of N52 million for March alone.”