The House of Representatives has approved for second reading a bill to establish sanctions against public officials who use public funds to seek medical treatment abroad.
The bill seeks to amend section 46 of the 2014 Health Act, by establishing a penalty of N500 million or seven years in prison for using public funds for medical care abroad.
Section 46 of the main law states: “Without prejudice to the right of any Nigerian to seek medical examination, investigation or treatment anywhere within and outside of Nigeria, no public official of the Federation Government or any part thereof shall be sponsored for review, research or medical treatment abroad at public expense, except in exceptional cases by recommendation and referral of the medical board and whose recommendation and referral must be duly approved by the Minister or Commissioner of Health of the State, as the case may be . ”
Leading the debate on the general general principle of the bill on Wednesday, its sponsor, Sergius Ogun (PDP, Edo), said he was introducing a section 46 subsection 2, which reads: “Any public official of the federation government or any any party thereof who violates the provision of subsection (1) above shall be guilty of an offense and liable to a fine of N500,000,000 (five hundred million naira) or imprisonment for seven years, or both. .”
Ogun said the decision to sponsor the bill “stemmed from a desire to discourage medical treatment abroad to the detriment of our indigenous health institutions.”
He said that the poor state of the health sector in Nigeria needed to be renewed.
He stated that “the bill will stop the export of cash abroad and will redirect it to the development of our economy.”
Previous attempt to reform the law
In the Eighth Assembly, when Mr. Ogun sponsored the same bill to regulate medical travel for government officials, several lawmakers, including the current Vice President, Idris Wase, who was then the Deputy Majority Leader, also They opposed the bill.
Lasun Yusuf, the then vice president, had said the bill would violate the fundamental rights of all political officials.
In 2019, the bill was defeated during clause-by-clause consideration.
Nigerian officials are notorious for traveling abroad for medical care.
ALSO READ: Why Buhari goes abroad for treatment amid challenges in Nigeria’s health sector: Minister
Since taking office in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari has traveled to the UK for medical care, sometimes spending months there while many health facilities in the country are in a dilapidated state.
Aside from the infrastructure deficit in Nigeria’s health care, the sector is beset by constant strikes due to poor funding and poor welfare of health workers.
An analysis by PREMIUM TIMES indicated that, as of August 2021, cumulatively, Mr. Buhari had spent 200 days in UK hospitals.
The debate on the bill
Speaking in support of the bill, Deputy Minority Leader Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu) stated that the bill is intended to “cure an evil” by providing sanctions against anyone who violates the health law.
“What is the evil that the bill is trying to cure? The bill has recognized that it offends the public treasury, Nigeria’s effort to be self-sufficient in health care, by establishing that public officials will not incur bills in the Nigerian treasury for medical care outside the country, and its non-compliance is punishable. Mr. Okechukwu said.
Tajudeen Yusuf (PDP, Kogi) also argued in favor of the bill. He urged his colleagues to support the bill because it will fix a loophole in the existing law.
When the chairman, Vice President Wase, put the bill to a vote, lawmakers overwhelmingly voted for its second reading.
The bill was referred to the Health Services Committee.