By John Ogunsemore
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has advised President Bola Tinubu against allowing the use of his name to garner cheap popularity.
El-Rufai stated this in a post shared on his verified Facebook page amid reports suggesting that the 300-bed Hospital at Millennium City, slated for commissioning by the President or his representative this week, is uncompleted.
Upon completion, the hospital is expected to operate 26 departments, six theatres, Intensive Care Units and facilities for cardiology, oncology and nuclear medicine.
According to the post, citizens were concerned that the project might be abandoned after the commissioning or further delayed, despite being privately sponsored under a Build-Manage-and-Transfer arrangement secured by ex-governor El-Rufa’i with the Islamic Development Bank and other consortiums.
“If true, it’s crucial for those close to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to confirm the hospital’s completion status with the state government beforehand to avoid embarrassment, as plans are allegedly underway to make temporary arrangements for patients and some equipment that will be displayed in the areas/sections that the president or whoever is coming will be taken to see, all in a bid to make up for the story of ‘a productive two years in office’ and score a cheap political point.
“To put the record straight, the hospital’s story began with former Vice President, Arc. Mohammed Namadi Sambo, who conceptualised the project while he was governor under the PDP and pushed it very far before his elevation as VP. He sowed the seed while successive governors watered it. But former Governor El-Rufa’i deserves credit for today’s completion, having remodelled it and securing the over N9 billion needed to complete the project at that time.
“As of May 29, 2023, over N5 billion had been committed to the project, with about N1.2 billion outstanding owed to the contractor, meaning that the project was over 70% complete, with the entire remodelled design constructed, major equipments supplied, and funds for its completion already available,” the post reads in part.
It added, “Let the desperate glory-seeking APC administration in the state prioritise the people’s needs over cheap political capital. The commissioning should be suspended to allow for 100% completion of the hospital.
“It is better to miss out on the showmanship than pressure contractors into handing over another ‘made-in-china’ project (as we have seen from some of the state government’s badly done roads), and have all 8 blocks of the hospital fully-functional. It is the right thing to do.”