Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, has sacked Princewill Chike, the state’s commissioner for health, for allegedly hosting the preliminary session of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) without approval.
Wike was said to have announced the commissioner’s sack on Monday when Abba Hassan, the MDCN chairman, paid him a courtesy visit at the government house in Port Harcourt, the Rivers capital.
The governor described the unilateral decision of the commissioner to host MDCN without the consent of the state government as “most embarrassing”.
Wike said the commissioner erred by hosting the MDCN at the same time the government was inaugurating and flagging off 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,” Wike said.
The governor also said MDCN’s request for the establishment of a tertiary hospital in each senatorial district would not be achievable due to paucity of funds.
“You have talked about siting tertiary hospital in each of the senatorial districts; this is not possible,” the governor said.
“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 also said in order to improve citizens’ access to quality healthcare service delivery, his administration had embarked on the construction of some zonal hospitals in Bori, Degema, Etche, Ahoada and Omoku areas of the state.
He said his government had also invested huge amount of 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,” he 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.
In his remarks, Hassan said the MDCN was in the state for the ninth preliminary session of the council, and commended Wike for his positive attitude toward healthcare and medical delivery services in the state.
TheCable
