The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State and the management of the Osun State University Teaching Hospital have clashed over allegations of looting at a federally sponsored mother-and-child hospital in Osogbo.
The APC, in a statement by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, accused hospital officials of stripping the 100-bed facility, commissioned in 2022 under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Olabisi alleged that state government officials had “fraudulently” diverted equipment from the centre, warning that the development risked undermining the hospital’s purpose of improving maternal and child health. He called on the Federal Government to intervene and recover its assets.
But the Chief Medical Director of the teaching hospital, Dr Emmanuel Afolabi, dismissed the claims as “fake,” insisting that the facility was handed over to the hospital’s management three years ago.
“There is nothing like looting. Osun State is for all of us, and we are committed to doing our best to move it forward irrespective of political affiliation,” Afolabi said.
He explained that most of the equipment were battery-powered and had deteriorated over time. Some incubators and monitors, he added, were relocated for accreditation purposes, a process he said followed due diligence and was properly audited.
The CMD also noted that the hospital had yet to operate fully due to shortages of medical personnel, many of whom had emigrated in search of better opportunities.
