Governor Sule Votes N6bn For New Hospital Take-off

Nasarawa State government has set aside N6 billion as take-off fund for the newly established Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) in Akwanga.

The bill for the emergence of the hospital was assented to by Governor Abdullahi Sule at the Government House, Lafia, yesterday.

LEADERSHIP reports that the state House of Assembly on October 20, 2025, passed the bill for the establishment of the hospital.

The hospital which was initially domiciled in Lafia, was donated to the federal government following the establishment of the Federal University of Lafia Teaching Hospital as the take-off facility.

The new specialist hospital will replace the Akwanga General Hospital.

Speaking during the ceremony, Governor Sule revealed that the fund allocated for the hospital take off was part of the resources received from the World Bank, which identified Nasarawa State for its ease of doing business.

He said the fund is for facility upgrade in order to transform the host institution to the status of a tertiary one befitting a specialist hospital.

“We were able to have N17bn given to us. Out of this N17bn, we are keeping on site about N6bn to be given immediately to this DASH Akwanga so that it can be upgraded to the level of a tertiary healthcare facility both in Lafia and in Keffi,” Governor Sule said.

He explained that the decision to establish the DASH Akwanga was to ensure that every senatorial zone of the state has a tertiary health facility that would respond to critical health needs of the people.

“As you are aware, the erstwhile DASH in Lafia was donated to the Federal Government to serve as the teaching hospital for the Federal University of Lafia. This informed the decision of government to establish a similar  tertiary health institution in Akwanga bearing the same name considering that the hospital was named after the late Dr. Dalhatu Araf in order to immortalize him in view of his enormous contributions to healthcare development not only in Nasarawa but also in Plateau State,” he said.

The governor announced the appointment of Dr. Abene Esla Ezekiel as pioneer Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the new facility.