Senate to govt officials: Go abroad for treatment with your own money
THE Senate, yesterday, warned State House officials against President Muhammadu Buhari embarking on foreign trips for medical attention.
It said rather than allow President Buhari to jet out to seek treatment abroad, the government and State House officials should put the State House Clinic in order for such purposes. The President’s frequent treatment abroad has generated so much controversy in the polity each time he jetted out for medical attention.
The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-governmental Affairs, led by Senator Danjuma La’ah (PDP, Kaduna South), gave the warning when the State House Permanent Secretary, Tijjani Umar, appeared before the committee to defend his 2021 budget estimates. Efforts made to get the Presidency’s reaction last night proved abortive, as the media office of the President kept sealed lips on the matter. A highly placed official of the President, who did not want his name mentioned, simply replied “thanks” to the sms message sent to his GSM for his reaction to the Senate’s position.
But the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, described the issue as a political statement, saying though the Senate directive was desirable, it was yet to be seen how it would be enforced since nothing was yet on ground to make it possible. Umar had told the committee that of the N19.7 billion allocated to State House in the 2021 budget, only N1.3 billion was proposed for the State House Clinic. Senator La’ah in his response, explained that though the committee would approve the budget for the State House Clinic, President Buhari and other top officials of his government should no longer be flown abroad for medical treatment. He said: “Our President is not a man to be taken out anytime anything happens to him or he is sick.
“He must attend our clinic here and we must make sure we equip our hospital to the best of our ability so that any emergency will first be taken care of here before flying out, if the need arises. “N1.3 billion is already approved for State House clinic. I want this thing done and I want the credit to go to the whole committee that the rehabilitation and equipment of State House clinic we requested was done within the shortest time.
Oversight will be done monthly to ensure the job is completed in record time.’’ Speaking with journalists after defending his budget, the Permanent Secretary promised to put necessary arrangements in place to meet the medical needs of the President and other top officials once the budget was approved. Vanguard
