Senate probes abandoned N400bn National Primary Health Project

The Senate is probing the abandoned N400 billion National Primary Health Centre Project to determine the status of the 100 per cent project funds warehoused with the then Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank).

The upper chamber also mandated its Joint Committee on Health, Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases, Works and Housing to determine the level of progress and status of the projects in each of the 774 Local Government Areas.

The resolutions were sequel to a motion at Wednesday’s plenary moved by Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe (APC-Kwara) and co-sponsored Sen. Umar Suleiman (APC-Kwara) on “Need to investigate the abandoned N400 billion National Primary Health Centre Project.

The committee has six weeks to carry out the investigation and to report back in six weeks.

Other resolutions of the upper chamber would also include to carry out evaluation of the consultant, contractor and sub-contractors that participated in the project

The committee will also carry out a schedule of dilapidation on the projects and recommend ways of completing the projects nationwide.

Moving the motion, Oloriegbe who is Chairman Senate Committee on Health noted that the project was initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 in each of the 774 Local Government Areas (LGA).

“It is a 60-bed project which was to be complemented with four, three bedroom flats, doctors quarters, an ambulance, all basic hospital equipment and drugs,” he said.

He further said that in order to achieve this lofty project, the Federal Government deducted monies from the excess crude account of all the 774 LGAs on a monthly basis.

“In spite of all those professional pre-contract activities, the contract for the execution of the projects in the LGAs was awarded to Messrs Mattans Nig. Ltd without any known tendering and selection process.

“Some of these projects were commenced and abandoned at various stages while majority of them were never started in spite of huge sums of money released to all the sub-contractors,” Oloriegbe said.

Contributing, Sen. Nicholas Tofowomo (PDP-Ondo) said “there are some of our committees that have been inundated with one petition or the other concerning this project.

“This is an opportunity for us to really look into this issue dispassionately and put the blame where it is because Nigerians have been surcharged about the project.”

On her part, Sen. Biodun Olujimi (PDP-Ekiti) said the motion was a clear idea of a genuine commitment to primary health.

“The investigation must go on. We must be able to lay the blames where they are and something good must come out of this.

“N400 billion is something that will work well for our people in the health sector,” she said.

The prayers of the motion were unanimously adopted by the senators after a voice-vote by the President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan.

TheStar