Senate passes bill to establish Federal Medical Centre in Ebonyi

The Senate has passed a bill to provide a legal framework for the establishment of the Federal Medical Centre, Owutu Eda, Ebonyi State.

The passage of the Federal Medical Centre Owutu Eda (Establishment) Bill, 2021, followed the consideration of a report by the House Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary) at plenary on Tuesday.

Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Yahaya Oloriegbe (APC-Kwara), in his presentation, said the bill seeks to provide for the Federal Medical Centre, Owutu Eda, and make provisions for its due management and administration.

According to him, the establishment of the medical centre was informed by the need to bridge the existing gap between primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare delivery in Ebonyi State and Nigeria as a whole.

“There is the need to bring tertiary healthcare closer to the people which this bill seeks to achieve,” he said.

When established, he noted that the centre would provide facilities for diagnostic and rehabilitative services in medical treatment; as well as operate as a centre for research.

Meanwhile, a bill seeking to establish the Federal University Gusau Teaching Hospital scaled second reading in the Senate on Tuesday.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ya’u Sahabi (APC- Zamfara ), after consideration, was referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary) for further legislative action.

The Committee is to report back to plenary in four weeks.

In a related development, a bill seeking the establishment of the Federal College of Education, Ekiadolor, also passed second reading.

The bill sponsored by Sen. Matthew Urhoghide (PDP- Edo),after consideration was referred to the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND for legislative input.

The Committee, chaired by Sen. Ahmad Baba Kaita is expected to report back to the upper chamber in four weeks.