By Simon Ebegbulem & Gabriel Enogholase

BENIN—THE Benin Youth Congress, BYC, yesterday condemned what it described as a calculated attempt to tarnish the image of the acting Chief Medical Director, CMD, of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, Dr Darlington Obaseki, in the ongoing exercise by the Federal Government to appoint a substantive CMD for the hospital.

Obaseki

In a statement  by BYC’s  Coordinator General, Mr Omoruyi Igbinedion, it described as untrue the allegation by some persons it called imposters, that Dr Obaseki is an in-law to the immediate past CMD of the UBTH, Prof. Michael Ibadin, saying  “It is unfortunate for people to search for parochial issues rather than talk about the qualifications of Dr Obaseki who came first in the recent interview conducted by the Federal Government.

“The attention of BYC  has been drawn to a diatribe mischievously conceived by a set of jobless pen-surrogates working for a desperate cabal whose ulterior motive is to impose their puppet as CMD and derail the Federal Government road map for resuscitating a supposedly ivory league hospital.

“For the records, Dr. Darlington Obaseki and Prof. Michael Ibadin are not in-laws by hint of relationship and the latter became substantive Professor after his appointment as CMD, ditto Prof. Austin Obasohan who also became substantive Professor after his appointment as CMD.”

“It is instructive that we are reminded that Prof. Michael Ibadin gravitated from acting CMD to substantive CMD, and our distinguished son and brother is on the same path. There is no gainsaying the fact that all the unions are in total endorsement of Dr. Obaseki selection as the most outstanding aspirant for the job owing to his overwhelming performance in projects evaluation and effective Healthcare supervision to patients and catchment areas.

“Dr. Darlington Obaseki is an Associate Professor and a former CMAC – the most relevant office to the CMD before emerging as Ag CMD. The relative peace in the hospital attest to his credibility and managerial acumen, as opposed to the fractious relationship between management and staff before now.

“The reading public is by this clarion call for the confirmation of Dr. Darlington Obaseki as CMD advised to be wary of gravely mischievous publications, as we rededicate ourselves to assist the law enforcement agencies to be on the trail of blackmailers who take delight in falsehoods and rumour mongering.”