Forum Urges Probe Of Abandoned Health Centre Projects

A non-governmental organisation (NGO), United Nigerian Youth Forum (UNYF), has urged the Department of State Services (DSS), the police, other security agencies as well as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the contractor handling the construction of health centres across the country.

The forum accused the contractor, Mathan Nigeria Limited, of abandoning the N57 billion contract, which the forum said had led to the death of many Nigerians.

It said the contractor failed to build and equip the comprehensive health centres across the nation’s 774 local government areas (LGAs) as contained in the contract.

The group said after the contractor collected an initial sum of N37 billion, it had failed to execute 70 percent of the job.

Addressing a press conference in Kaduna, UNYF publicity secretary, Ali Muhammad who read the text of the address said the contractor even went to court and secured a variation of N20 billion on the project.

Muhammed alleged that the contractor’s negligence had caused the death of hundreds of expectant mothers who ought to have been safely delivered of their babies at the health facilities, if the projects were completed on time.

“Seventeen years after he received payment fully for the execution of the contract, Chief Achonu has not completed the job. In fact, it could be rightly inferred that he abandoned the contract for which he received the initial payment of N37 billion,” UNYF said.

Giving  statistics of the stages of completion of the job in the 774 local government areas, the youths insisted that only 30 percent of the job had been done since the contract was awarded.

“Since 2006 when the contract was awarded for the building and equipping of one health centre in each of the 774 local government areas in the country, only 263 of the 774 health centres have been built and equipped; while 510 health centres are yet to be built, 17 years later. That means 70 per cent of the job has been abandoned,” UNYF said.