The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the health sector, particularly addressing the power crisis at University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
The lawmakers also called on the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, to take immediate action to restore electricity to the hospital and summoned the Minister of Health, Ali Pate, to explain the deteriorating conditions and present a comprehensive plan to resolve the crisis.
These resolutions followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Afolabi Afuape during Wednesday’s plenary. Afuape lamented that UCH has been without power for nearly three months due to a N495 million electricity debt owed to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company. He noted that the dire situation has forced relatives of patients to bring generators and solar inverters to the hospital.
The House emphasized that the power outage has severely affected medical services, leading to unnecessary loss of lives and hardship. Lawmakers also invited the UCH Chief Medical Director to provide insights and collaborate with the Minister of Health to find a lasting solution.