Nigerian governor sacks commissioner for hosting medical practitioners ‘without approval
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has sacked the state Commissioner for Health, Professor Princewill Chike, for not seeking the state government’s approval to host the preliminary session of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
This was contained in a statement signed by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri.
The governor described the decision of the commissioner to host the MDCN without the consent of the Rivers State government as most embarrassing.
He announced the sack of Chike when the Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Prof. Abba Wasiri Hassan, paid him a courtesy visit at the government house, Port Harcourt, on 13 December.
He stressed that the Commissioner of Health erred by unilaterally scheduling to host the MDCN event at the same time when the state government was commissioning projects.
“Frankly speaking, I have never seen an embarrassment like this in my life. Everybody knows that it is not my nature to invite people and fail to attend to them. So, whoever has done this will suffer for it,” he said.
The governor explained that the state government never requested to host the preliminary session of MDCN in Port Harcourt, The Guardian reports.
Wike also said the request by the MDCN that state governors should establish one tertiary hospital in each of their senatorial districts will not be realizable due to the paucity of funds.
“You have talked about sitting tertiary hospital in each of the senatorial districts, you know it is not possible. That is why in Nigeria we have a problem. When you go for your budget, you put all kinds of projects. You know it cannot work. Where will you get the money to site this in each of the senatorial districts,” he added.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Monday, sacked the Commissioner for Health, Princewill Chike, for allegedly hosting a preliminary session of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) “without approval”.
Mr Wike announced the commissioner’s sack when the MDCN Chairman, Abba Hassan, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
The governor described the unilateral decision of the commissioner to host MDCN without the consent of the state government as “most embarrassing”.
He said that the state government did not request to host the preliminary session of the council.
Mr Wike stressed that the commissioner erred by unilaterally scheduling hosting of MDCN at the same time the government was inaugurating projects.
“Frankly speaking, I have never seen an embarrassment like this in my life. Everybody knows that it is not my nature to bring people and not attend to them. So, whoever has done this must suffer for it,” he said.
Mr Wike said that MDCN’s request for the establishment of tertiary hospital in each of their senatorial districts would not be realisable due to paucity of funds.
“You have talked about citing a tertiary hospital in each of the senatorial districts, this is not possible.
“That is why in Nigeria we have a problem. When you go for your budget, you put all kinds of projects. You know it cannot work. Where will you get the money to site the hospital in each of the senatorial districts?”
The governor said in order to improve citizens’ access to quality healthcare service delivery, his administration had embarked on construction of some zonal hospitals in Bori, Degema, Etche, Ahoada and Omoku.
He further said his government had also invested huge resources on promotion of medical education in the state.
“This is particularly with the establishment of Rivers State University College of Medical Sciences and the annual award of scholarship to 130 indigenes studying medicine at PAMO University of Medical Sciences,” Mr Wike said.
The governor called for reduction of the money accruing to the Federal Government from the Federation Account to enable states to have more resources to drive their developments.