Chinelo Obogo
The Lagos State House of Assembly has constituted a 16-man ad hoc committee to screen Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s cabinet nominees.
During plenary, the speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, read the list of the ad hoc committee members and said it would be headed by Rotimi Abiru, Somolu constituency II and then directed the committee to report to the House in one week.
The Assembly also decided to probe the abandonment of a N7 billion cardiac renal facility centre in Gbagada General Hospital. This is a sequel to the report read by the acting chairman of the House Committee on Health, Akeem Sokunle, who told the House that members of his committee had embarked on a tour to inspect health facilities across the state.
“We observed that there is a shortage of manpower, non-functioning ambulances, insecurity, unequipped laboratories and more importantly abandonment of a multi-billion naira cadio-renal facility. Most of the equipment in the hospital are not functioning and I got a report that the cardio-renal machines only worked for two weeks before the facility was locked up. Also, most of the sensitive equipment are obsolete.
In his contribution, Tunde Braimoh (Kosofe 2) expressed his displeasure over the issue saying: “It is disheartening that the investment of the state in that hospital has been abandoned. If these facilities are functioning, we would have saved many lives and reduced the constant medical tours to India.”
He then pleaded that the committee be given authority to investigate further from the point of supply of equipment and how they stopped functioning.
Obasa then directed the clerk of the House, Azeez Sanni, to write a letter to the Ministry of Health and invite necessary stakeholders on the issue.
The Lagos State Cardiac and Renal Centre, Gbagada, a multi-billion naira health facility, is one of the signature legacies of the administration of former Governor Babatunde Fashola.