By Aaron Ossai
The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council and Ancillary Services has expressed dissatisfaction with the 2023 budget performance of the Department of Primary Healthcare, FCT Area Council Service Secretariat.
The Committee directed the agency to reconcile all relevant documents within seven days and furnish its Clerk with the nominal roll and addresses of the 270 Primary Healthcare Centres across the FCT.
The Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Peter Akpanke, gave the ruling in Abuja during the Committee’s oversight visit to the FCT Area Council Secretariat after observing discrepancies in the budget document presented by the agency.
According to Hon. Akpanke, “I don’t feel satisfied looking at your budget performance. As a health-related agency, you should be proactive in solving health-related issues.”
“In as much as the agency is calling for more funding, it has to improve on its performance to convince the Committee,” he said.
Speaking further, the Committee emphasized the need to encourage corps members posted to the agency by improving their welfare packages.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the FCT Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Ruqayya Wamakko, revealed that the agency’s overhead cost was N4.8 million.
She also noted that she assumed office six months ago and had been making efforts to renovate the office to create a more conducive working environment.
According to Dr. Wamakko, “There was no inventory when I came.”
“We have about 300 staff in the agency. Nine management staff members occupy this block,” she added.
The Executive Secretary also requested increased funding for the agency to enhance sensitization campaigns on immunization in communities.
During another oversight visit to the Area Council Service Commission, the Committee observed that the budget approved for the agency was not directly released to them.
Expressing dissatisfaction, the Committee instructed the Clerk to write to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to provide reasons why the approved budget for the agency was not directly disbursed to them.
Speaking earlier before the Committee, Acting Administrative Secretary of the FCT Area Councils Service Commission, Mrs. Eunice Yakubu, along with other senior staff members, outlined the challenges faced by the agency.
Mrs. Yakubu disclosed that out of the N250 million approved as overhead costs for the agency, N240 million was released.
She further explained that the agency does not receive its budget directly. “We have to apply to the FCDA,” she said.
Regarding recruitment, the Committee observed that the agency had not adhered to the federal character principle.
Further inquiries by the Committee revealed that the last recruitment exercise conducted by the agency was in 2008.
Other oversight visits by the Committee included a meeting with the management staff of the FCT Area Council Pension Board.
The Director of the FCT Area Councils Staff Pension Board, Suleiman Abdulrahman, while explaining the Board’s mandate, disclosed that there were still outstanding payments yet to be made to pensioners.
