Burdened by a heavy bill for repairs and irregularities in supply of equipment for use at Benin Central Hospital, the Edo State Government is under pressure to set up a Commission of Enquiry to probe the billions sunk into the numerous contracts awarded for the building of the hospital.
The Commission of Enquiry, it was learnt, would have a mandate to ascertain if details of contracts were strictly followed, especially the quality of materials, as heavy bills are being incurred for patch up work at the hospital and determine the extent of irregularities regarding the purchase of equipment, among others.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said: “Actors within the government are calling on the governor to probe the contracts in which billions of taxpayers’ money was expended on a project that was poorly executed.”
He said, “The state government will investigate allegations of fraud and irregularities with the contracting for procurement of the hospital equipment.”
The governor’s aide noted that 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.
He said the contractors who handled the building have questions to answer including those regarding shoddy jobs done, among others.
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.
Recall that the hospital commenced operations few weeks ago, as residents are currently enjoying free medical services, especially radio diagnostics and CT scan.
Repair works are ongoing in some sections that were hitherto inoperable because of poor design that was not compatible with modern hospital infrastructure.
