Babcock University has appealed to the Federal Government to save private universities from the ordeal of high electricity tariffs.

Vice-Chancellor Ademola Tayo, who said this at the weekend when he hosted the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN) at the Ilishan campus of the school based in IlishanRemo, Ogun State, said they spend between N250 million and N300 million monthly on electricity tariff.

He condemned the huge electricity bills being charged the university by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), saying they have become unbearable.

The professor insisted that the 50 per cent subsidy recently announced by the government for the federal universities and seven teaching hospitals should be also extended to private universities.

He said: “The huge tariff is coming despite the efforts we have put in place to wean ourselves off the national grid issue. “We have our own IPP and we are also installed solar power for our streetlights.

“However, since both private and public universities produce graduates for the same society, the Federal Government should come to the aid of private universities.”