The red chamber, which made its position known, yesterday, described as completely unacceptable the situation where the medical facility located in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa had been abandoned by the Presidency because of preference for treatment in foreign countries.It said the foreign trips for medical treatment must be stopped to ensure proper attention to the State House Clinic.
The Senate stated its position, yesterday, at a budget defence session attended by the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs and the State House Permanent Secretary, Tijani Umar.
Umar had presented a budget of N19.7 billion for 2021, out of which N1.3 billion was proposed for the State House Clinic. Reacting to the proposal, the Chairman of the Senate panel, Senator Danjuma Lah, said the committee would approve the budget for the State House Clinic but insisted that the President and other top officials of his government should no longer be flown abroad for medical treatment.
The committee stated: “The President cannot be travelling or be taken out of the country anytime he falls sick. He must be attended to in our hospitals here in Nigeria. We must ensure our hospitals are fully equipped to world class standards so that no matter the issue of emergency, our hospitals should be endowed with that capacity to attend to them before flying out, if the need arises.”
(guardian)
