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The Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Dr. James Enimi Omietimi, has raised concerns over the non-release of the Centre’s 2025 capital allocation, saying the development has stalled ongoing projects and affected healthcare delivery at the facility.
Dr. Omietimi made this known when he received the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, FRC, team conducting physical verification of selected Federal Government projects in the South-South region. According to him, the delay has made it difficult to sustain momentum of work and provide expected services to residents.
We Should Not Pretend; Things Have Not Been Too Good — Omietimi
Speaking during the engagement, the Medical Director said the realities confronting healthcare institutions on the ground were sometimes different from what is portrayed in the media. He said running a tertiary health institution is demanding.
“We should not pretend because things have not been too good lately,” Dr. Omietimi said.
He explained that the Centre has been struggling to keep the system functioning effectively amid financial constraints. In addition, he expressed concern over changing attitude of some residents towards orthodox medicine. According to him, some patients now resort to traditional medicine practitioners before seeking professional care and only return to FMC Yenagoa when conditions have deteriorated.
He appealed to the Federal Government to urgently intervene by ensuring adequate funding for the Centre, particularly timely release of capital allocations, to enable completion of ongoing projects.
FRC Verifies Projects, Says Exercise Not To Witch-Hunt
Earlier, the leader of the FRC verification team, Mr. Bede Ogueri Anyanwu, Head of Strategic Communication Directorate, said the purpose of the exercise was to ascertain extent to which funds appropriated and released for Federal Government projects were being utilised.
Anyanwu said the exercise is part of the Commission’s statutory responsibility of promoting transparency, accountability and prudent management of public funds in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.
“Our mission is to promote transparency, accountability and prudent management of public funds as contained in the mandate of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007,” Anyanwu said.
He emphasised that the presence of the team at FMC Yenagoa was not intended to witch-hunt management but to establish facts on ground regarding implementation of selected projects. He added that physical verification helps to determine whether released funds were appropriately utilised and whether projects achieve intended objectives.
According to him, the exercise provides opportunity to establish actual status of projects, identify challenges affecting implementation and ensure government investments translate into tangible benefits for citizens.
Projects Inspected At FMC Yenagoa
The FRC team comprised Mrs. Anthonia Danjuma of Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate, Miss Into-Sam Audu of Investigation Unit, Mr. Cyril Longpam of the Secretariat and Mr. George Nwari representing Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, with Anyanwu as team lead.
The team inspected selected projects at FMC Yenagoa including Renovation and Expansion of Mother and Child Group Complexes, Purification and Renovation of Pipe-Borne Water Facilities, Continued Construction of House Officers/Interns Block comprising a two-storey building with 36 flats, and Construction of Two-Storey Resident Doctors’ Quarters Block.
The verification exercise is expected to enable the Commission to assess physical status of projects, compare level of work executed with funds appropriated and released, and identify factors responsible for delays.
The visit provided opportunity for FMC Yenagoa management to present its funding concerns while the FRC team gathered relevant information to ensure public resources are deployed efficiently and deliver value for money.
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