Governor: Why I suspended health commissioner

Aides, Nwifuru, Christmas bonus, Governor, Health commissioner

Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru says he suspended the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Moses Ekuma, for three months because he did not show capacity to manage the ministry.

Nwifuru disclosed the reasons for sacking the health commissioner while addressing stakeholders from different sectors during the citizens’ engagement forum for the 2025 budget proposal in Abakiliki, the Ebonyi State capital, on Wednesday, November 27, 2024.

The governor lamented that the health ministry “is sick, despite having abundance of qualified personnel”.

He added: “When one is in a position of authority, such a person should know that it comes with lots of responsibilities.

“People in authority should not be lackadaisical in their approach to work and should deliver on their mandates.”

Nwifuru said the government had invested heavily in the health sector but there was little to show for such efforts.

Nwifuru said: “One contractor collected N3 billion to supply equipment and consumables to primary healthcare centres in the state.

“The government also spends billions of naira to bring primary healthcare centres and general hospitals in the state to standard but there are no results.”

Theft, dereliction of duty: Gov suspends Health, Housing Commissioners

The governor added that the Ebonyi State Government would constitute committees to inspect health facilities across the state.

He said: “We have made several interventions, such as drug revolving funds for general hospitals and this has attained 60 per cent delivery.

“We are equipping the health facilities so that when people fall sick in the rural areas, they would receive immediate treatment before being referred to specialist hospitals.”

Nwifuru said when the health facilities are fully rehabilitated, they would be run independently by the health officials to make them viable.

The governor stated: “The doctors would generate funds to pay themselves and other health workers and generate revenue for the government.

“The same will apply to the state broadcasting service, which will be run as a public liability company.

“The funds the establishment generates would be used to run it and redundant staff would be redeployed to relevant ministries.”

He, therefore, warned commissioners and other public officeholders to take their duties seriously, adding that more would be sanctioned for inefficiency.

The Star