The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has expressed deep concern over the deteriorating condition of the health sector under Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration, describing it as the worst in the state’s 33-year history.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Osun APC Chairman Tajudeen Lawal alleged that the Adeleke administration’s approach to healthcare is marked by negligence and inadequate manpower.
Lawal criticized the governor for failing to address the pressing needs of the sector.
“The height of cruelty for a democratic government is to pay lip service to the health sector by refusing to engage the needed manpower,” Lawal stated.
InfoStride News recalls that in November 2022, Governor Adeleke issued an Executive Order terminating the appointments of health workers, including doctors, pharmacists, and community health workers, recruited by his predecessor Adegboyega Oyetola.
The justification given for this termination was that the appointments were made after Oyetola had lost the July 2022 gubernatorial election.
Lawal further contended that the government’s claim of awaiting the outcome of the minimum wage discussions before recruiting new health officers was a poor excuse.
“In the first instance, why did Governor Adeleke sack the health workers recruited by the former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, now Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, on assumption of office when he knew he wasn’t having an immediate solution to the health problems in the state? When he knew well that the state had a shortfall of doctors and other health workers.
“Is Governor Adeleke waiting for the people of the state to die before he addresses the health issues in the state with the speed it requires?
“Will it not be right to conclude that the decision to sack health workers, as well as the current lackadaisical handling of health issues by Governor Adeleke was callous given that the Governor and members of his household could afford to run abroad, as they have done many times, to access quality healthcare?
“Governor Adeleke should wake up and stop insulting the collective sensibilities of the people of the state. The health sector needs his urgent attention,” Lawal advised.
In response, Dr. Adekunle Akindele, the Special Adviser to the State Government on Health Matters, criticized the APC for undermining the ongoing efforts by Governor Adeleke to revamp the health sector.
“Like I have said on many occasions, the health sector that Governor Adeleke inherited was near-collapse as decaying infrastructure and manpower shortage were a glaring reality.
“That was the situation that Governor Adeleke is working assiduously to correct in order to make qualitative healthcare service a possibility for the people in the state.
“It is worth noting that in the 12 years of the APC administration in Osun State, no employment was made into the health sector.
“The fictitious 1500 health workers that Sooko Tajudeen Lawal even made reference to were a media stunt as not only was a proper recruitment process not conducted but there was no record of them in the state’s civil service.
“This is why Sooko Tajudeen Lawal and his party have found it so hard to produce just an employment letter of the supposed recruits,” Akindele asserted.
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