Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has criticised the inauguration of the Stella Obasanjo Hospital in Benin by the previous administration, labelling it a “sham.”
Okpebholo stated that construction at the hospital remains incomplete and critical equipment is yet to be procured.
Speaking during an inspection of the facility on Tuesday evening alongside Deputy Governor, Dennis Idahosa, and Commissioner for Health, Dr Cyril Adams Oshiomhole, Okpebholo promised to address the structural defects and ensure the hospital serves the people effectively.
He accused former Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration of rushing to inaugurate an unfinished project for political reasons.
Okpebholo pledged to immediately correct the structural defects at the hospital to reposition it to serve the people better.
Okpebholo stated, “After inspecting the facilities, it is clear that nothing was done here by the Obaseki-led administration as they just painted the building and fixed air conditioners to deceive the people to think the building was completed. I don’t know what Obaseki and the PDP government did.
“This is a sham. Construction was ongoing when he commissioned the building. This is unacceptable. It is unfair. It is cheating to Edo people. We will come back again to talk with the contractor and see how to commission it for Edo people.”
Oshiomhole, who took the governor around the facilities, said the contractor has a lot of explanations to make regarding the project.
“The governor has gone round to see the work and we have a lot of talking to do with the consultant and contractor because we thought that by now, the work would have been almost ready.
“This building was commissioned by the last administration politically, but coming here it is like an abandoned building at the other side. A lot of explanations need to be done at this point.
“I came here with a team of doctors, surgeons and other medical experts so that they will have their input and there were some structural defects we saw. We alerted the contractor and promised to correct those errors,” he said.
