Inadequate funding delaying completion of FG projects at UCH—Management

Inadequate funding remains the major challenge impeding the completion of the five Federal Government projects at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

Dr Victor Akinmoladun, the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of UCH, stated this on Wednesday while addressing a team of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) which visited the tertiary health institution.

Akinmoladun, who lamented that the hospital was not getting the needed budgetary allocation, added that the Ministry of Health had always tried to assist without much success.

According to him, less than 50 per cent of the annual appropriation for the hospital is being received unlike others who get 75 per cent.

He said the ongoing five projects in the college was experiencing low funding, adding that this was delaying the completion of the projects.

Our correspondent reports that the five projects are Extension of Emergency Clinic, Completion of House Officer Residence, Establishment of the Bioequivalence Study Centre, Procurement/Installation of ICT Equipment and Procurement of Medical Equipment.

The total cost of the projects, NAN reports, was put at over N935 million while financial commitment from inception to date for the projects had been N342.4 million.

In his remarks, Mr Hyacinth Abutu, an Assistant Director with FRC and leader of the team, noted that the hospital had substantially complied with the procurement act and fiscal responsibility law.

Abutu said findings from the project sites visited and records provided by the establishment showed that there was no shady deals in the award of the contracts.

He called for adequate funding to ensure the completion of the five projects in the hospital due to their importance.

Abutu also advised government to concentrate on projects it could adequately fund rather than embarking on new ones.