The Ogun State House of Assembly has pressed the Ministry of Health and the Hospitals Management Board to raise the bar in healthcare service delivery.
Lawmakers called for improved access, quality, and efficiency, urging internal reforms to boost financial results and overall healthcare outcomes across the state.
At the mid-year budget performance review for 2025, held at the Assembly Complex in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, the House Committee on Health Chairman, Wahab Haruna, issued this directive.
He acknowledged the Ministry’s commitment to healthcare but encouraged its leadership to deepen efforts. According to him, there should be a stronger focus on “service excellence and prudent use of public funds in accordance with the state’s developmental goals.”
Minority Leader Lukman Adeleye also weighed in. He acknowledged the Ministry’s utilisation of ‘Impact Office’ initiatives to improve infrastructure and called for “more funding for the ministry to do more in rendering quality healthcare delivery to the people.”
Delivering the mid-year financial review, Commissioner for Health Dr. Tomi Coker highlighted the Ministry’s partnerships and progress. She said the government, in collaboration with the World Bank, had “upgraded 75 primary healthcare centres across the state to improve primary care service delivery.”
Dr. Coker shared updates on workforce expansion.
“The recent employment of 472 community health extension workers for the primary health centres in the state” has boosted capacity, she said.
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“An additional 415 personnel were employed by the State Hospitals Management Board to boost service delivery.”
The Ministry’s internally generated revenue reached “a total of N99 million, representing 43.64 per cent of the ministry’s annual revenue target,” mainly from tuition, hostel, hospital, and lab renewal fees.
She reported a “recurrent expenditure performance of 32.43 per cent within the first six months” and urged more capital investment to meet rising service demands.
Further achievements included regular drug supply, maintenance of emergency ambulances, observance of global health days, and ICT training to improve staff capacity.
Dr. Yinka Elemide, Permanent Secretary of the Hospitals Management Board, said the agency achieved a “41.83 per cent recurrent achievement” while revenue performance reached “54.9 per cent.”
Other agencies reviewed during the budget session included the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, the State Agency for the Control of AIDS, and all state and general hospitals under the board’s supervision.