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Alleged financial improprieties: Cross River Commissioner suspends hospital vendor
The Cross River Commissioner for Health, Dr Henry Ayuk, has suspended the operations of an alleged quack vendor running the pharmacy unit of the General Hospital Calabar over alleged financial impropriety and poor quality assurance.
Ayuk gave the directive on Tuesday, during an unscheduled visit to the hospital for inspection, after the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) suspended its 40-day strike.
Bothered by the anomalies bedeviling the hospital, the commissioner confirmed the absence of remittances to government by the pharmacy operator, for the past 15 months.
He also alleged the lack of qualified personnel in the pharmacy, describing the unit as a “quack shop” laden with sharp practices.
“The people managing the pharmacy are not qualified, they do not have any background in pharmacy,, so we do not know why they are here.
“As far as I am concerned, that place is a quack shop, because it does not have the required personnel.
“How do you ensure quality assurance when you do not have even pharmacy technicians, which is a minimum requirement for such services?
“Accordingly, I have asked the vendor to see us so we can review the Memorandum of Understanding they entered with government, in order to truly ascertain what government expects of them,” he stated.
Ayuk noted that while that was being looked into, he had asked that their services be suspended.
He directed the Medical Superintendent, accountants of the hospital, Ministry of Health and the hospital pharmacists to take charge.
The commissioner stated that they were to have a record of the stock balance and ensure accountability in their operations until more effective arrangements would be put in place.
He appealed with those in charge of the laboratories to block revenue leakages through accountability.
According to him, he will be meeting with the body that collects about 15 per cent of revenue generated in the hospital, to distribute to appropriate quarters.
“We have also asked that they come to the office for their agreement to be looked into. We want to see exactly what value they are bringing to the hospital that guarantees the 15 per cent they receive.
“So all those things will be reviewed for us to come out with a more effective plan.
“Our emphasis is that the health sector must render services that are reminiscent of the Gov. Bassey Otu-led administration’s ‘People First’ agenda.
“We want people to be conscious of the fact that there is a government that gives premium attention to their health.
“But we must fight against leakages that impede our desire to bring healthcare services to the ordinary man in the society,” Dr. Ayuk said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commissioner and his team were conducted round the hospital by the Medical Superintendent, Dr Prashant Kumar, among other staff of the facility.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Anambra State Sector Command, has confirmed the death of a woman in an accident at Okpoko Market on the Asaba-Onitsha Road.
The Sector Commander, Mr Adeoye Irelewuyi, who confirmed the accident to journalists in Awka on Thursday, said that the woman was hit while she was crossing the road.
He said that the accident, which occurred on Wednesday, involved a commercial tow truck with registration number XA550BMA.
“Eyewitness report reaching us indicates that the truck was towing a vehicle in an uncontrollable speed along the axis.
“The vehicle that was being towed got detached from the tow truck.
“It hit and killed a female adult, who was said to be crossing the road, while the tow truck continued its movement.
“FRSC rescue team came to the scene and took the woman to Toronto Hospital, Onitsha, where she was confirmed dead and her body deposited at the hospital’s mortuary,” he said.
While sympathising with the family of the dead, the sector commander urged motorists, especially tow truck drivers, to exercise a high level of professionalism.
He also urged the drivers to always use standard equipment and avoid speeding.
The Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State Chapter, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, said the state government’s maize palliative to members of the association made a positive impact on the sector.
Iyiola said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
“We received about 150,000 tons of maize in February from the Lagos State government as palliative to cushion the effect of high feed prices.
“The major benefit of the palliative is that it actually cushioned the cost of production for most poultry farmers in the state.
“The palliative was beneficial as it made the cost of some poultry produce, especially eggs to drop,” Iyiola said.
He noted that prior to the palliative, a crate of egg was sold between N3,500 and N3,700 at the farm gate, but after the palliative, it now sells between N3,200 and N3,400.
According to the PAN chair, retailers and middlemen who sell from N3,800 to N4,200 do that for their personal gain.
“We have urged our members to sell their eggs at reasonable prices following the receipt of the palliative from the government.
“We appreciate the Lagos State government for the palliative but we also urge the federal government to do likewise, to further reduce the cost of production in the sector.
“This will consequently lead to drop in the prices of all poultry produce across board,” he said.
He said the palliative was shared among financial members of the association at no extra cost.
“As an association we shared the grains equally across PAN’s eight zones in the state equally. We also mandated each zone not the sell even a grain of the maize.
“We, however, considered new poultry farmers who wanted to the join the association as beneficiaries of the palliative,” said Iyiola.
He noted that through the palliative, more poultry farmers were recruited into the association.
“The maize was shared only to poultry farmers and not feed millers, it is the major component of poultry feed formulation,” he said.
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