The Management of College of Medicine, University of Ibadan (UI) has debunked the insinuation by the University College Hospital (UCH) that a sum of N118m was donated to it by the Oyo State Government to fight Coronavirus.
The College was reacting to a statement that emanated from UCH denying the receipt of N118m from the state government, and it, therefore, inferred that the Hospital must have been confused with the College of Medicine.
In a statement signed by the College’s Deputy Registrar, Dr. Ikeoluwapo O. Moody, the College stated, “The College Management wishes to state emphatically and categorically that it did not receive the sum of N118m from the Oyo State Government for COVID-19 tests”.
The statement stated further, “To set the record straight, Oyo State Government initially gave the College of Medicine N5m to run the Bio-repository and Clinical Virology Laboratory set up for the purpose of testing COVID-19 patients. However, when the accreditation by the NCDC was not forthcoming, the N5m was returned to Oyo State Government to help in fighting the pandemic in the state.
‘Eventually, the Bio-repository and Clinical Virology Laboratory was accredited by the NCDC and the College is working in tandem with the state government in testing patients using materials donated by the NCDC, corporate bodies, Alumni Association and other stakeholders. I, therefore, wish to state that the College of Medicine did not receive money to the tune of N118 million from Oyo State Government”.
However, the state government has insisted that it donated the said amount to both UCH and College of Medicine.
Reacting, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Taiwo Adisa, quoted the state’s Commissioner for Finance, Akinola Ojo, insisting that the N118 million was expended in meeting the varied needs of the Department of Virology, College of Medicine and UCH.
According to the statement, “The state government is of the view that attempts to create thin lines between the Department of Virology, College of Medicine, which provides Clinical Services to the UCH and operates from the same premises as the hospital, amount to being clever by half. Staffers of the department hold identity cards of the UCH and that of the University of Ibadan, even as the department remains the only one that undertakes virology-related assignments for the UCH”.
In the statement, the state government holds that it has equally provided medical supplies to UCH listing the items to include 500 each of goggles, protective gowns and face shields; 250 each of full protective, head covers and shoe covers and 200 hand sanitizer amounting to N2m.
The statement also revealed that the state government also provided a revolving fund to the tune of N5 million to UCH for treatment of residents of the state, who tested positive for COVID-19 adding that the amount was being” topped” each time the hospital spent up to N4m on the patients.
“Based on a shopping list specifically prepared and presented to the state government by the Chief Medical Director of the UCH, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, the state government has procured medical supplies to the tune of N25 million for delivery to the hospital. That the supplier is just about to deliver the said items is an evidence of the protocols related to movement schedules of all items within the environment of a global pandemic”, he said.
The statement said the supplies included goggles, PPE gowns and boots, adding that the total amount spent in directly supporting UCH “based on the artificial distinction” so far stood at N32 million.
It added that the balance of N86 million constituted what had been spent to support the Department of Virology, a direct partner with the state on the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing out that some of the items provided to support the Virology Department included PPE, SARSCoV-2 testing kits and extraction kits for COVID-19.
Others forms of support, the state maintained, were wet lease of the testing machine for COVID-19, medical supplies and consumables as well as payment of allowances for the staff of the Virology Department.
“In order to clarify the referenced N118 million support, it is important to first of all state that we were made aware of a distinction between the University College Hospital (UCH) and the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. Oyo State Government has provided support to both institutions during this COVID-19 pandemic”, the statement concluded.
