House Of Reps to Probe Jonathan, Buhari Over N11.1bn Aso Rock Clinic Budget

The House of Representatives, yesterday,
resolved to set up an Ad-hoc committee to
investigate former President Goodluck Jonathan
and President Muhammadu Buhari’s N11.1
billion State House Clinic budgets between
2015-2017.
The House unanimously agreed to carry out the
investigation, sequel to a motion entitled: ‘’Need
to investigate the deplorable condition of the
State House Clinic and the alleged deductions
from the salaries and allowances of the medical
staff”, moved by Rep. Henry Archibong, PDP,
Akwa Ibom.
The House also commended the First Lady,
Aisha Buhari, for bringing the issue to Public
glare.
In his submission on the motion, the lawmaker,
who said the clinic has, over the years, been
receiving annual budgetary allocations to
procure equipment to function optimally, noted
that in the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Appropriation
Acts, the Clinic was allocated the sums of
N3.94 billion, N3.87 billion and N3.2 billion
respectively, for upgrading and provision of
necessary drugs and equipment.
Within the 36 months, what the 16 teaching
hospitals collectively got for capital projects
were: 2015: N1.424 billion; 2016: 3.333 billion
and 2017: N1.943 billion.
Archibong observed that in spite of the huge
budgetary allocations, the Clinic lacks
necessary facilities such as syringes, drugs and
equipment needed to save lives.
Recall that this deplorable condition of the clinic
made the First Lady, Aisha Buhari to complain
publicly during a stakeholders’ meeting,
lamenting her inability to access even the
simplest drugs at the State House Clinic.
Noting that the clinic was established to take
care of the health needs of the President and
Vice President, their family members as well as
members of staff of the presidential Villa, he
lamented that if this pathetic situation could
happen under the nose of the presidency, “you
can imagine what will happen elsewhere. It is a
shame on this nation.
“This is unacceptable. Less than three years of
this government, this amount has been spent. It is
unacceptable that the Permanent Secretary and the
Minister (Minister of Health) have not resigned. It
cannot happen in other smaller countries. Is this
the change we have been waiting for? This is a
question.”
The House, however, resolved to set up an Ad-
hoc committee to investigate the deplorable
condition of the State House Clinic and the
alleged deductions from the salaries and
allowances of the medical staff and report back
within three weeks for further legislative action.
Recall that the Permanent Secretary attached to
the State House, Mr Jalal Arabi, when the first
story on this issue was published in one of the
dailies had said that since the clinic renders
free services, no matter how much was spent
on supply, drugs would finish and there would
be a problem if there is no allocation.
Asked how much has so far been released to
the clinic this year, he responded: “Honesty, I
can’t say offhand, but it’s really paltry and I
don’t want to blame anybody. It is because of
the situation we find ourselves in terms of
revenue generation. But no matter how much is
released, so long you don’t commercialise it
(the clinic) or there’s a way you generate
money to replenish whatever given out, it would
finish.”
Arabi added that: “If you leave your gate wide
open, like we do at the State House Medical
Centre, patients would come, and if they come,
you prescribe drugs and give them based on
availability. So long as you don’t charge a kobo,
they’re coming in and out and you’re giving
them drugs, certainly, one day, the drugs will
finish. And if they finish, and you don’t have
appropriation to replenish the drugs, what do
you do?”
Asked if he meant there was no appropriation,
he responded: “No! No! No! There are
appropriations, but whatever is appropriated is
released based on the release you get from the
Ministry of Finance. If it’s released, you buy
(drugs) according to what has been released to
you.
And if the drugs finish, you’ve to wait until
another appropriation since we don’t charge kobo.
It’s free medical services. And you dispense with
what you have. Unless of course there’s a change
of policy that you start charging like other
hospitals are doing, then one can be accused of
not stocking drugs or consumables.”
‘Clinic should be commercialised’
The permanent secretary suggested that the
clinic should be commercialised to be able to
render satisfactory services.
According to him, there is now a policy
mandating those interested in the services of
the State House Medical Centre to transfer their
National Health Insurance Sche-me profile to
the centre.
He added: “There was a time the NHIS policy was
jettisoned at the State House Medical Centre in
which case you find patients enrolled in NHIS, but
have chosen different providers. Because of
proximity, they’d rather come to the State House
Medical Centre to do it more or less taking free
medication when, as a matter of fact, what ought
to have come to the State House Medical Centre if
they’d utilised the NHIS policy goes elsewhere and
you can’t chase it. In the end, the drugs will finish
and if you don’t have appropriation, I can’t violate
the law.”
The permanent secretary denied the allegation
of diverting funds meant for drugs’ procurement
to the maintenance of the hospital’s building,
challenging those behind it to provide a proof.
Since 2015, humongous sums of funds have
been budgeted for the State House Medical
Centre far above figures allocated to each of
the 16 major teaching hospitals in the country.
According to BudgIT, a budget research non-
governmental organisation and Vanguard’s
checks, total investment in drugs, supplies,
construction and medical equipment at the
State House Medical Centre in the last three
years are as follows: 2017: N290.455 million;
2016: N2.8 billion and 2015: N137.9 million.
None of the 16 teaching hospitals got more
funds than the state house clinic in the last 36
months.
In fact, in 2016, the Federal Government spent
more on capital projects at the State House
Medical Centre than it did in the 16 teaching
hospitals. The Villa Clinic’s N3.87 billion is more
than N500 million higher than the N3.33 billion
appropriated for all the teaching hospitals.
As a percentage of the total annual budget, the
2017 health budget is one of the lowest in the
last decade. In 2015, the health sector budget
of N259,751,742,847 was 3.82 per cent of the
total budget, rising to 4.11 per cent at
N250,062,891, 075 in 2016 and increasing
marginally to 4.17 per cent at N304,109,961,
401 in 2017.
The World Health Organisation, WHO,
recommends an annual minimum spending of
N6,908 per annum on health of each Nigerian
but the 2017 figure works out at N1,688 per
annum.
Nigeria’s health sector is currently rated poorly
and the inadequate health budget and poor
health capital budget, among other challenges
facing the sector.
Federal Teaching Hospitals deliver a higher level
of care to patients and are responsible for
training new generations of physicians and are
meant to be frontrunners in medical research
and technology.
However, due to inadequate funding, most of
these hospitals are functioning below par with
abandoned projects, poor healthcare delivery,
disgruntled personnel and non-availability of
drugs manifesting even as health watchers have
repeatedly noted that the Nigerian economy
cannot function efficiently if the health of its
populace is not guaranteed.
In virtually all the Federal Teaching Hospitals,
equipment is obsolete and treatment of chronic
ailments such as cancer is a challenge as the
broken down radiotherapy machines and other
critical diagnostic equipment cannot be replaced
due to lack of funding.
Access to healthcare services is challenging at
the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The
neglect of the health sector is fuelling
patronage of alternative healthcare abroad and
the brain drain syndrome, amongst others and
until the right investment is made, the country’s
health sector may not improve.
Although Nigeria is signatory to the 2001 Abuja
Declaration, that stipulates minimum of 15 per
cent allocation benchmark of the national
budget to health, the country has repeatedly
failed to meet this target in the last 16 years.
According to the World Health Organisation and
UNICEF, Nigeria has the second highest under–
five and maternal mortality rate in the world.
About 2,300 children under 5 and 145 women of
child-bearing age die every year in the country.
Major teaching hospitals
The 16 major teaching hospitals in the country’
are University College Hospital, UCH; Lagos
University Teaching Hospital, LUTH; Ahmadu
Bello University Teaching Hospital, ABUTH;
University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH;
University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH;
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital,
OAUTH; University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital,
UITH; University of Jos Teaching Hospital,
JUTH; University of Port Harcourt Teaching
Hospital, UPTH; University of Calabar Teaching
Hospital, UCTH; University of Maiduguri
Teaching Hospital, UMTH; Usman Dan Fodio
University Teaching Hospital, UDFUTH; Aminu
Kano University Teaching Hospital, AKUTH;
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital,
NAUTH; University of Abuja Teaching Hospital,
UATH; and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University
Teaching Hospital, ATBUTH.
Reactions Comrade Debo Adeniran
Reacting to the state of the Aso Rock clinic and
the huge amount allocated to it annually,
Comrade Debo Adeniran Chairman, Centre for
Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL)
said: “That is a confirmation of the deceitful
governance to the extent that those who are
supposed to supervise activities in the State
House have only shrieked from their duty and
the president himself seems too busy with other
matters and the one at the bridge of his nose,
he is not identifying it as a priority.
“So, if he cannot effectively supervise what is
happening in his backyard, how do you expect
that he is going to do better in other areas away
from where he stays or where his office is
located?
“It is an indication that the president has too
much in his hands that he can cope with. We,
CACOL, have asked him to relieve himself of the
duty of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources,
and he should concentrate on the business of
supervising all other MDAs so that he can pay
adequate attention to all of those things that
are being done under his authority. He would be
accountable to the people and the
accountability would be thorough and
convincing.
Junaid Mohammed
Dr. Junaid Mohammed, Medical Doctor and
Second Republic parliamentarian in his reaction
said: “The first major reaction came from those
who are customers of the Aso Rock Clinic, that is
the First Lady herself and the fact that the first
person that they have to account to is the First
Lady and if she comes out to condemn them and
nobody has contested what she has said, I have
no doubt but to believe what she has said.
“So far, she has never been caught out lying even
when what she says is not convenient.
“I am not surprised the way Aso Clinic turned out
to be. That hospital should not have been set up
the way it was established by the Babangida
regime. None of the rules of procedure of setting
up this kind of establishment were followed.
“The hospital has never been badly run as it is
currently being run under the current
management. I sincerely hope that the Buhari
administration should take the trouble to consider
whether we really need the Aso Rock Clinic and I
truly believe we need it and then make sure that it
is properly funded.
“The absence of basic consumables shows that
those who are running the clinic have their own
priorities and even though they are medical
doctors, have no loyalty to the healthcare delivery
system in this country. So, we must investigate
this and make sure that Aso Rock Clinic is treated
as a normal federal medical centre and its funding
should be rationalised.
“We should also note that not every doctor is
good in running a facility because running a
facility is management and from my experience,
running a hospital is management.
There should be thorough investigation
Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director Socio-
Economic Rights and Accountability Project
(SERAP)
“If the First Lady has put that particular reason in
the front burner of national discourse, it then
must be thoroughly investigated so that we don’t
continue to lose money either by act of
commission or omission.
“The First Lady must be familiar with the Aso Rock
Clinic and if it is said that N3.2 billion was
allocated to Aso Rock Clinic, then it means that
something needs to be investigated and a lot of
things have to be unravelled if we are indeed
serious about our fight against corruption.
So, flash light must be beamed on the Aso Rock
Clinic so that we know where the money that has
been allocated to the clinic is or the people that
should make things happen in that clinic should
be thoroughly looked into.”
Buhari should overhaul his cabinet
Mr. Joe Ambakaderimo, Convener, South-South
Reawakening Group
“The comment by the First Lady really shows how
unfortunate things have become now.
“It means that nothing has changed if people who
are working in the villa can be that callous and it
is very unfortunate that this can happen under the
Buhari regime. We want to call for an overhaul of
the federal cabinet; time is running out for the
president to rejig his cabinet to save himself from
embarrassment.
“He is a lone ranger in his fight against