SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, (THEWILL) – The Abuja Environmental Protection Council Board (AEPB) sealed off the National Hospital Abuja (NHA) in the early hours of Tuesday over N7.7m debt for waste disposal.
The hospital was sealed off following an order by a Federal Capital Territory Chief Magistrate for failing to pay for waste disposal services rendered.
Shehu Lawan, Chairman, FCT ministerial special task force on recovery of debts owed AEPB, disclosed that the hospital owed the board N7,776,800 as at June 2016 and that AEPB provided three account numbers with GTB, Diamond Bank and UBA to its clients to be paying their monthly fees, but that the hospital defaulted.
Lawan added that the court had earlier issued summons three times, which were served on the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital to appear before it, but he allegedly failed to do so.
He revealed that the Chief Magistrate Court II presided over by Mrs. Chinyere Nwecheonwu on June 22, 2016 ordered the sealing of the National Hospital and subsequently, adjourned the case to July 13, 2016 for hearing.
Adetayo Haastrup, the hospital’s Spokesperson, confirmed that the AEPB told the hospital management that the board had a court injunction to recover the debts but that the hospital only received the paper for payment or bill of the said amount in June.
He explained that the NHA had made series of attempts to pay up the bill but that the accounts kept bouncing and that the hospital management had explained the challenges to the board.
“I believe that it should be after exhausting such avenue and no positive response is reached that the board should go ahead with the seal-off option,” Haastrup said.
“This is a government institution with a difference because of the kind of services we render; it has to do with saving lives, ambulances might be coming in for emergency cases.
“I think it is out of place for AEPB to do this to the apex and strategic hospital in Nigeria; it is an embarrassment.
“We have enjoyed a cordial relationship with the board. On three occasions we tried paying the money but it was bouncing back because they are not on Treasury Single Account (TSA).
“For example, government to government you have to be on TSA because when you send the money through the TSA it will go, but when the money goes to the central bank it will reflect on your TSA.
“We have all been instructed to move our account to TSA, so, when we pay, the money is being rejected because they gave us commercial bank account number not TSA account.”
The National Hospital has, however, been reopened following payment of the debts owed AEPB.
Story by David Oputah
