Group issues 7-day ultimatum to Obaseki to re-open hospital

Titus Akhigbe, Benin

A civil society organisation known as Talakawa Parliament on Thursday gave Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state a 7- day ultimatum to re-open the state-owned Central Hospital built by his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole and commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016.

The group also called on the governor to re-open state-owned tertiary institutions shut by his government.

Addressing journalists in Benin City, Leader of the Talakawa Parliament, Kola Edokpayi said with the huge amount appropriated for the Central Hospital under the previous administration, he cannot distance himself from the hospital project.

“In 2014, Edo state government appropriated the sum of N1.6 billion for the project. In 2015, another N3.5 billion was also appropriated. In 2016, another N5.1 billion was also appropriated.

“When Governor Obaseki took over from Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, five days after the hospital was commissioned, he appropriated another N500 million in the 2017 budget for the same hospital that he has refused to open despite the fact that government is a continuous process.

“We expect Godwin Obaseki to consolidate the projects executed by his predecessor putting into perspective that he was the head of the economic and strategic team during the tenure of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

There is no way Gov. Obaseki can distance himself from the five- star hospital,” Edokpayi added