The Edo State government on Sunday stated that it is under pressure to set up a Commission of Enquiry to probe the billions of naira spent on the numerous contracts awarded for the reconstructed Central Hospital Complex in Benin City.
The move is to ascertain if details of the contracts were strictly followed, especially the quality of materials, as heavy bills are being incurred for patch up work at the hospital, as well as determine the extent of irregularities regarding the purchase of equipment, among others.
According to the statement from the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said the commission of enquiry is to have a holistic study of how the contract was awarded following series of calls from deferent actors within the government on why Governor Obaseki needs to probe the contracts in which billions of taxpayers’ money were expended on a project that was poorly executed.
“The state government will investigate allegations of fraud and irregularities with the contracting for procurement of the hospital equipment. Individuals contracted to procure the hospital equipment will be called to hear their side of the story, and we will investigate their claims to unravel why the equipment are yet to be supplied denying taxpayers’ value for their money,” the statement read.
It added that the contractors who handled the building have questions to answer including those regarding shoddy jobs done on the said project.
“Work is ongoing at the hospital to patch up parts of the Hospital, as parts of the facility were poorly constructed leading to collapse of the roof in some sections. Repairs are ongoing in some sections that were hitherto inoperable because of poor design that was not compatible with modern hospital infrastructure,” Osagie said.
DAILY POST reports that the hospital commenced operations few weeks ago, two years after president Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the gigantic edifice in November 2016 at the twilight of Adams Oshiomhole’s second term administration.