Osun: Two Career Heads In The Osun Health Sector Are Suspended by Adeleke

Dr. Niyi Oginni, the executive secretary of the Osun Health Insurance Agency (OHIS), and Dr. Adebukola Olujide, the head of the primary health care development board in the state, have been cleared for immediate suspension by Governor Ademola Adeleke, the executive governor of Osun State.

In addition, the State Governor instructed the Public Procurement Agency and other pertinent government agencies to immediately begin the process of recouping all unpaid tender fees on contracts, JVAs, MOUs, and other agreements to which the State Government is a party that were awarded in the previous four (4) years.

To ascertain the degree of the Public Procurement Agency’s (the Due Process Office) responsibility for the non-remittance of tender fees to the state treasury and contract manipulation over the previous four years, Governor Adeleke further announced a comprehensive inquiry of the agency.

The removal of the two Executives followed the interim report of the Committee on Contracts and MOU, led by Hon. Niyi Owolade, which accused the two agency heads of egregious abuse of power, squandering of public funds, and repeated infractions of agency and public service policies and laws.

The Committee’s guideline had exposed the unethical behavior of the suspended heads of the OSHIA and the Primary Health Care Board, which had taken the form of contract awards made without following the proper procedures, non-remittance of the actual tender fee collected from contractors, contracts that were not economically advantageous, such as those for PHCs, and the purposeful splitting of contracts.

The Committee also discovered that the suspended OHIS boss had given contracts worth millions of Naira to his own biological daughter and his own private hospital within the organization he is in charge of, while the acting career head for primary health care had lied under oath when she claimed not to be aware of any contracts for infrastructure or supplies in PHCs, instead using bulk-passing and blame-trading.