Lagos Assembly to probe abandoned N5.6b Cardio-Renal facility, invites stakeholders

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday moved to probe the abandoned N5.6 billion Ultra-Modern Cardiac and Renal health facility located near the General Hospital, Gbagada.
The move followed the report read by the Acting Chairman, House Committee on Health, Olusola Sokunle, on the floor of the House.
Sokunle, in his report, said that members of his committee had embarked on a tour to assess the situation of the public health facilities across the state.
He said: “We observed that there is shortage of manpower, non-functioning ambulances, insecurity, unequipped laboratories and more importantly, abandonment of multi-billion Naira Cardio-Renal Facility, Gbagada.”
According to him, most of the equipment in the hospital are not working.
He said: “I got 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.”
Sokunle pleaded with the House to give the committee the power to invite the Ministry of Health to appear before it to give clarification on issues bothering the multi-billion Naira project.
Contributing, Tunde Braimoh, representing Kosofe Constituency II, expressed displeasure over the wastage of public funds through the abandonment of the project that would have saved many lives.
He said: “It is disheartening that the investment of the state in the hospital is being abandoned.
“If these facilities are functioning, we would have saved many lives and reduce the constant medical tours to India and other foreign countries.”
He urged the House to grant the committee the authority to delve more into the matter from the point of supply of equipment and how they stopped functioning.
On his part, the Majority Leader of the House, Sanai Agunbiade, said that if equipment of such magnitude was sited in the state, it was for a purpose and that it must not be wasted.
Agunbiade, who urged the House to invite suppliers of the equipment for questioning, added that such questioning must attract public participation.
Abidun Tobun, a third-term lawmaker representing Epe Constituency I, who corroborated Agunbiade, said that the House should also invite those who took delivery of the equipment in the centre for questioning.
Also, Rotimi Olowo, a fourth-term lawmaker, described the abandonment of such medical facility as a colossal waste.
Other lawmakers took turns to express disappointment over the abandonment of the health facility.
Responding, the Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, directed the Clerk of the House, Azeez Sanni, to write a letter to the state Ministry of Health to appear before the ad hoc committee.
Obasa also directed the clerk to write a letter of invitation to other necessary stakeholders to the meeting with the committee on the project.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Lagos State Cardiac and Renal Centre, Gbagada, a multi-billion Naira health facility, is presumed to be one of the signature legacies of the Babatunde Fashola-led administration, lying abandoned.