Nigeria: Fact-Check - VP Osinbajo's claim not true: State House clinic not for all Nigerians

Nigeria's Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, is well regarded across the country as a stickler for truth and integrity.




But PREMIUM TIMES  has something different to say. According to them, the report that the nation's number two citizen did not tell the truth regarding who can receive healthcare at the State House Medical Centre in Abuja.

Mr. Osinbajo had on February 26, in Lagos, said the state house clinic was open for use by all Nigerians.

The vice president was responding to questions at the Pastors and Leaders Retreat of the Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos.

He said the medical centre was a well-equipped general hospital always open for use by the public.

However, when PREMIUM TIMES visited the hospital on May 4, the Vice President's claims were found to be untrue.

The question Mr. Osinbajo answered at the event was triggered by a PREMIUM TIMES report of February 2 indicating that the presidency planned to spend more on the State House Clinic than on all the federal teaching hospitals in the country.

Based on the budget proposal in the public domain at the time, the clinic was billed to gulp N787million more in capital allocation than all the 16 federal teaching hospitals combined.

The State House Medical Centre provides services for President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Osinbajo, their families and employees of the Presidency.

The 72-bed clinic thus offers services to less than 1, 000 Nigerian elite. But the 350-bed Abuja National Hospital, which caters for millions, got far less in capital allocation.

The same situation applied at the federal teaching hospitals across the country which bed spaces triple that of the state house clinic and cater for millions, train medical doctors and allied health professionals while also serving as medical research centres.

The February 2 report triggered outrage across the country with citizens and activists calling on government to review the funds allocated to the state house clinic downward while pumping more money into health facilities open to millions of Nigeria.

To deflate the mounting criticism of government at the time, Mr. Osinbajo claimed the hospital was open to all Nigerians and that it should not be considered an exclusive preserve of presidency officials.

He said he even preferred that the facility be further equipped to provide higher medical services to those in need.