Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has backtracked on his loan approval for private hospitals in the State.
The Governor stated that the failure of private medical practitioners to service their loans had made it impossible for the state government to start the second phase of the N500million Private Hospitals’ Loan Scheme.
Governor Wike said the N500million Private Hospitals’ Loan Scheme introduced by his administration recorded an abysmal 90% repayment failure rate on the part of the private hospital proprietors.
He said this when he hosted the Rivers State chapter of the Nigerian Optometric Association.
Governor Wike said the action of the private hospital proprietors negated the spirit of the revolving loan scheme.
“We gave out loans of N500million to private hospital proprietors. Out of the number of those who received the loans, majority of them have refused to pay back.
“The first batch is not responding in loan repayments, making it difficult to commence the second phase of the programme.
“There is a 90 percent failure in loan repayments in the first phase.
“We have spent $8million (USD) to re-equip Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital and we are setting a dedicated electricity line for the hospital to improve power supply”, he said.
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