The Health Committee of the Delta State House of Assembly and the State Commissioner for Health, , are currently embroiled in cold war over the health commissioner’s failure to respond to invitations by the committee on health and other related matters.
It was gathered that several invitations to the House extended to the health commissioner by the committee were allegedly turned down with no reason adduced.
Dr. Alphonsus Ojo, Chairman Committee on Health of the State Assembly, told DAILY POST that, “we have invited the Commissioner to our committee severally, he turned down the invitation, it is unfortunately that he has a lackadaisical attitude towards public hearing on health related bills, and other invitations”.
Noting with dismay purported lack of interest by the health commissioner and officials of his ministry, he expressed the committees’ worries over the bill for a law regulating the registration, establishment, operations, conduct, supervision and inspection of private Healthcare centres in the state, alleging that the Commissioner and officials of the ministry of health had always treated invitations on health bills with levity.
He stated that it was worrisome that the ministry of health, which was supposed to play a key role in the public hearing, only sent a representative without any memorandum to the committee.
But in a swift reaction, the Health Commissioner, Dr. Mordi Ononye said: “We did not receive any invitation to that effect. When we did, we sent a representative to the committee, what else? I cannot divide myself, rather I will send somebody to stand in for me, I think the Assembly’s committee was just looking for pitfalls”.
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