The House Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Hon. Bamidele Salam, has called on the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Yaba to provide an account for N422.3 million allocated for contracts and N50.3 million spent on staff training.
During its oversight visit to Lagos, the committee, committed to enforcing budgetary discipline among government agencies, examined several institutions including FMC Lagos, LUTH, and NIMASA for financial and extra-budgetary irregularities.
At an investigative hearing, the committee questioned Dr. Olugbenga Owoeye, Chief Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, over issues such as the non-remittance of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), unauthorized extra-budgetary spending, and violations of financial regulations.
Concerns were also raised about the hospital’s employment practices, which allegedly did not adhere to the federal character principle of equitable job distribution across the country’s geo-political zones.
The explanations provided by Dr. Owoeye regarding these financial discrepancies and regulatory breaches were deemed inadequate by the committee, which requested detailed records of all completed and ongoing contracts. The CMD also highlighted the hospital’s need for urgent support to maintain its 500-bed facility, established in 1907.
Similarly, the committee scrutinized Prof. Lanre Adeyemo, Medical Director of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), on issues including the non-remittance of IGR, discrepancies in Remita payments exceeding N2 billion, and unapproved extra-budgetary spending totaling N150.3 billion.
Prof. Adeyemo also discussed the hospital’s challenges, particularly the high costs of power supply, which once reached over N181 million monthly until the federal government provided 300 solar panels.
The committee expressed dissatisfaction with the explanations provided by LUTH’s management and requested evidence of approvals, expenditures, and compliance with financial regulations.
Chairman Salam emphasized that the committee’s mission is to ensure accountability and transparency, stressing that any violations of financial laws would result in appropriate sanctions. Other agencies, including NIMR, the National Orthopaedic Hospital, and NIMASA, are also scheduled to appear before the committee as part of its efforts to ensure that government agencies deliver value for the funds they receive.
Ruling on the matters, the committee resolved that, all the excuses rendered in explaining the contraventions did not hold water and cannot be tolerated.
It posted that they amounted to gross violation of extant laws.
Both hospitals complained about personnel loss due to the “japa syndrome” and untimely release of budgetary allocations to them.
They called on the committee to help them intervene in all their problems to enable them to live upto public expectations.
Other MDAs scheduled to appear before the committee include: Nigerian Institute for Medical Research, NIMR;
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