Senate suspends FEDCAM budget over non-productivity

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The Senate says it will ensure that no budget is released to the Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (FEDCAM) over non-productivity.

The Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary), Senator Banibo Ipalibo, said this when she led members of the committee on an oversight visit to the college in Abuja on Thursday, February 22, 2024.

The committee also visited other health facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

FEDCAM was established in 2009 with a mandate to train alternative medicine practitioners in health care delivery services and also to carry out clinical works and as well provide an alternative method of treating ailments and research.

Ipalibo, while expressing her disappointment in the non-productivity of the institute, said nothing was happening there.

She said: “There are no students, the staff members are not coming to work and the building they rented is unused.

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“It is supposed to be a key area in alternative medicine, it is such a place we could train our children but none of that is happening there and as such, the committee will definitely look into that.

“We will ensure that no budget is released and no taxpayers’ money is wasted in such a project until the project comes back on stage and provides the services that this country needs.”

Speaking, the Chief Accountant of FEDCAM, Abayomi Abiodun, disclosed that there were over 132 workers in the college.

Abiodun recalled that in 2011, the Ministry of Health suspended the management staff and appointed an interim administrative team.

He said: “From 2011 to 2019, FEDCAM was administered by the interim administrative team of the Ministry of Health.

“We have been trying to see how the college will come on board but unfortunately, last year, the ministry decided to place a hold and suspend the activities of the college.

“Without the principal leadership of this college, absolutely nothing can take place because the ministry has a way of doing its things. These and other more are our challenges.”

The Star