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Wike berates doctors for defaulting in payment of N500 million loan

By Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt
01 May 2019   |   4:22 am
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has expressed disappointment over the failure of private medical practitioners to repay a N500 million loan given to them by the state government to boost healthcare delivery in the state.

Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has expressed disappointment over the failure of private medical practitioners to repay a N500 million loan given to them by the state government to boost healthcare delivery in the state.

He warned that their action would stall further intervention by Rivers State government. Wike stated this when the leadership of the state Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) led by its Chairman, Dr. Obulebra Adebiyi, visited him at the Government House in Port Harcourt to inform him that he had been nominated for the exalted NMA Healthcare Merit Award.

“I want to bring to the notice of the NMA the failure of private medical doctors to repay the N500 million loan granted to them by the state government.

“Most of them since they collected that money, none has paid a dime. Instead, they claim it is their share of the state resources. This act by the doctors will make it impossible to start the second phase of the loan scheme for private medical practitioners to develop their hospitals,” he said.

Meanwhile, the governor has said that the funds for residency training of doctors will be released later in the week by the state government.He also asserted that the state Health Insurance Bill to be passed by the Rivers State House of Assembly would come into operation during his second term.

Adebiyi, who lauded the governor for developing the College of Medical Sciences and the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) to train more medical professionals for the state, implored the Rivers State Government to facilitate the passage of the State Health Insurance Bill by the House of Assembly for the good of Rivers people.

“This award is conferred to state governors with exceptional performance, especially in the health sector,” she said. She said the prestigious award would be conferred on him at the National Delegates Conference of the NMA at Abakaliki in Ebonyi State.

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