PDP Berates Buhari Over Foreign Medical Trips

The Peoples Democratic Party PDP, has vehemently berated president Muhammadu Buhari for condemning Nigerians who seek medical treatment abroad.

It could be recalled that Eko Hot Blog reported on Sunday that Buhari had said Nigerians must stopped the habit of traveling abroad for medical treatment.

The opposition party in its reaction to Buhari’s statement advised the president to lead by example adding that, he(Buhari) should fix the Nigerian healthcare.

The National Publicity of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, disclosed this in a statement over the weekend.

He described Buhari’s statementas self-indicting and raises public apprehensions on high-level deceits in governance.

The statement reads in full: “Our party describes as ridiculous, a situation where a President, who patronizes foreign hospitals for treatment and even check-ups; whose administration has failed to provide adequate healthcare in his country, could turn around to pontificate to other citizens against foreign treatment.

While the PDP do not approve of proliferated foreign medical tourism, especially by leaders and public office holders, our party holds that a leader who has failed to lead by example and whose government has neglected and wrecked our healthcare systems, lacks all rectitude to issue directives against foreign treatment.

Consequently, the PDP urges President Buhari to show example by patronizing a Nigerian public hospital on his next medical appointment so that he can experience the healthcare reality that our citizens have been subjected to under his government.

President Muhammadu Buhari; President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan; Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Ajayi Borrofice, during the Sallah homage to the President by the Leadership of the Senate in Daura, Katsina State

Mr President can then discover that our health system has suffered untold neglect under his watch, leading to dilapidated infrastructure, empty drug shelves, decrepit and worn-out equipment, brain drain and a demoralized workforce worse than his 1983 recollections.

It is even more disheartening that all the investments and robust programmes of successive PDP administration, including the comprehensive National Strategic Health Development Plan, Saving One Million Lives Initiatives, National Health Insurance Scheme, among others, have been degraded and impaired by the dysfunctional APC administration.

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Nigerians recall that under the PDP administration, new technologies and modern medical equipment were available in most federal medical institutions where cases such as cancer, kidney, heart and brain ailments for which Nigerians are now mostly seeking overseas treatment were effectively handled in our country.

Our health care would have continued to flourish but for the disruption of PDP’s people-based healthcare programs by the Buhari-led APC administration.

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has now become the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of the corrupt cabal in the Buhari Presidency, which has not been able to account for the looting of billions of naira saved for healthcare needs of Nigerians.

Under the PDP administration, the dreaded Ebola outbreak was managed without grave consequences.

If such medical emergency, God forbid, breaks out today, it would be devastating to our nation given the poor handling of our healthcare system by the APC administration.

The APC administration’s neglect for our national health need is reflected in successive budgetary allocations under President Buhari.

Even in the 2020 budget, only N427.3bn (4.5% of the budget) is provided for the health need of over 186 million Nigerians. Indeed, this is not the way to go.

The PDP therefore charges President Buhari to end his rhetoric by taking concrete steps to improve on the nation’s healthcare system so that Nigerians can have access to adequate and affordable healthcare at all levels.”

It could be recalled that Buhari had spent over 148 days in abroad for medical check-ups and treatment.