From Tony Osauzo, Benin
The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the sack of the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Samuel Alli, describing Governor Godwin Obaseki’s action as “the scapegoating of Dr Alli” who the governor had reduced to a mere supervisor in the State Ministry of Health.
The party in a statement signed by the Director of Publicity Committee of its Campaign Council, Comrade Orobosa Omo-Ojo, JP, said “The fate of Dr Alli like other commissioners serving in his administration, is as a result of Obaseki’s preference for use of consultants who he has leased Edo to, apparently to drain the states’s resources.
“The government statement, claiming that Governor Obaseki is resolute on his finishing strong objective and that he will remove any obstacles that may hinder optimal service delivery to the people in the remaining four months of his administration, is deceitful and deceptive.
“Truth is, it’s too late for Obaseki and the PDP to save themselves from the shaming that awaits them as a result of their complete failure to attend to the basic needs of Edo people, including health care, education, food security, infrastructure, and their general well-being.
“There is no magic that Obaseki can use to complete the several uncompleted projects that now look like abandoned projects.
“Rather than searching for more scapegoats, the Edo APC Governorship Campaign Council is calling on Governor Obaseki to step aside for a transitional government that will stop the wobbling that Edo State has become under his stewardship.
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“For other commissioners who have also become spectators in their ministries, the APC Campaign Council is by this message, calling on them to resign and join forces with other patriotic groups to retrieve the state from Obaseki and his group of consultants that are determined to keep the state as their personal enterprise through the candidacy of Asue Ighodalo”, the statement said.
Recall that Governor Obaseki while sacking the Commissioner said the Stella Obasanjo Hospital would have been ready to be used by the Edo people two months ago but the sloppiness of the Commissioner for Health Dr Samuel Alli, has set the project back.
“The project at Stella Obasanjo Hospital should have been ready two months ago because I promised Edo people that I will complete all my projects before I leave office. I came to the conclusion that the head of the Ministry of Health, the Commissioner for Health doesn’t have the capacity to complete this project.
“I am here today with the Directors of the Ministry to give a matching order that I will now personally take responsibility to supervise all our health projects as we have not moved as fast as we should regarding a few of the health projects in the State to ensure we deliver on all the promises we made relating to the health sector in the State.
“I will be meeting with the director of health weekly and this will be the new trend as anybody who doesn’t do what he is expected to do and doesn’t have the capacity to deliver will be shown the way out.
“All the equipment of this hospital are already here but failures in decision making kept us here. For instance, a contractor gave an advance payment to the Ministry of Health on the 4th of July 2024, and as I speak today, that paperwork has not been processed. So, the contractor can’t move to the site and such sloppiness affects the work of the government because people don’t care and they don’t take government work seriously. But from now on, we are going to insist that they do”.