Members of the House of Representatives were in shock on Monday after undertaking a facility tour of the State House Medical Centre , Abuja, describing its state as “ quite disturbing . ”
An ad hoc committee of the House, after the visit , also said the clinic needed urgent rehabilitation and equipping else it would no longer be advisable to offer medical services there.
The committee, which is chaired by a member of the All Progressives Congress , Mr . Aliyu Magaji , was mandated by the House to investigate the centre after President Muhammadu Buhari ’ s wife, Aisha , complained that services at the facility had collapsed .
The House is investigating how the N10 . 9 bn the health facility reportedly collected for its services between 2015 and 2017 was spent .
Speaking shortly after the three- hour facility tour , Magaji stated , “ It’ s quite disturbing what we saw . We went round the place and I can now understand what the First Lady met when she came here .
“ This is a very old facility and if it’ s going to answer its name , something drastic must be done . For it to be called State House Medical Centre , it’ s quite disturbing. We will do our best and submit our report .
“ This is just like every other local government ’ s health centre that we know . There is nothing interesting about it. I commend the personnel for working in this condition . ”
Another member of the committee , Mrs. Ayo Omidiran , was alarmed and constantly expressed disappointment as the members moved from department to department .
She exclaimed , “ This is not even a healthy place for anybody to work, let alone bringing in patients to receive medical attention .
“ How can you have a clinic that has an empty pharmacy ? Look at the place they call medical store , there is nothing there other than a few free supplies .
“ This is a medical centre ? There are leaking roofs everywhere and the painting on the walls is peeling off.
“ Apart from the Eye Unit, all the other areas here are in a terrible state. ”
The members found out that some key machines , including X- ray and dental machines , had failed in the last three years .
They told the committee that the X- ray machine was bought in 2002 and now broke down frequently .
According to the personnel, an Ultrasound machine installed at the centre does not function regularly because “ there are no UPS to back up power supply. ”
At the Dialysis unit , the members were told that the machines would have to be serviced after treating one patient before another patient could be admitted.
“ There are only two machines that are being managed . After treating one patient , we have to get technicians to repair the machines before we admit another patient , ” one member of staff informed the committee .
The PUNCH learnt that following the facility tour , the committee had resolved to summon the Permanent Secretary , State House, Abuja, Mr . Jalal Arabi , again for further questioning.
Arabi had last week defended the poor state of the centre when he appeared before the committee in Abuja .
He had claimed that lack of adequate funding was the main problem of the clinic.
Arabi had denied that the clinic received N10 . 9 bn since 2015 , saying that the amount budgeted for the centre was N 3 . 5 bn.
Aisha had summed up her findings at the centre this way , “ Few weeks ago , I was sick as well. They advised me to take the first flight out to London ; I refused to go . I said I must be treated in Nigeria because there is a budget for an assigned clinic to take care of us . If the budget is N100 m , we need to know how the budget is spent .
“Along the line , I insisted they call Aso Clinic to find out if the X- ray machine is working . They said it was not working . They didn ’ t know I was the one that was supposed to be in that hospital at that very time.
“ I had to go to a hospital that was established by foreigners 100 per cent . What does that mean ?
“ So , I think it is high time we did the right thing . If something like this can happen to me, there is no need for me to ask the governors ’ wives what is happening in their states .
“ This is Abuja and this is the highest seat of government , and this is the Presidential Villa . ”
She reportedly addressed a two - day stakeholders’ meeting on Reproductive , Maternal , Newborn Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa .
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