Rivers Recovers N2bn from Biometric Identification Exercise

Culprits will be prosecuted, says Wike
Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said the state has recovered about N2 billion through the biometric identification exercise embarked on by his administration.

He also said the state would conduct a forensic audit of the state salaries accounts after the biometric identification exercise to ensure transparency in that department.

Wike, who spoke yesterday when he granted audience to the leadership of the Rivers State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), also said all those involved in defrauding the state of funds would be prosecuted accordingly.

He also announced that the state government would commence the rehabilitation of General Hospitals in the three senatorial districts of the state in two weeks’ time.

He said the first phase of the rehabilitation of the general hospitals would involve six hospitals.
He said the administration was committed to improving secondary health care for the people, adding that in the next three years, 18 hospitals would have been rehabilitated.

Wike also said the state government would upgrade facilities at the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt to serve as a teaching hospital for the Rivers State University of Science and Technology.
He added that he would also reconstruct the Doctors Quarters at the tertiary health facility as well as complete the orthopaedic section of the hospital.

“In the next two weeks, we will start awarding contracts for the rehabilitation of General Hospitals. The rehabilitation will be done in phases. We will start with two per senatorial district,” he said.

He also stated that the state government would fund the training and retraining of resident doctors to improve their capacity to deliver quality services. He also promised to give attention to issues pertaining to the welfare of doctors.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the NMA, Dr. Furo Green, commended the governor for his developmental strides and urged him to address key welfare issues affecting doctors in the state.