Ben Agande Kaduna

…Says health, procurement laws will engender efficiency, transparency in governance

The Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has signed three bills into law in a bid to reposition the health sector in the state for accessibility and affordability to a greater majority of people in the state.

.The bills which were earlier passed by the state House of Assembly are Gombe state Hospitals Services Management Board Law, 2019; Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Management Law, 2019 and Gombe State Council on Public Procurement and Public Procurement Bureau Law, 2019.

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A statement made available to Vanguard and signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Publicity, Ismaila Uba Misilli quoted the governor as saying the bills were “Vital” as they will help in “fostering efficiency and effectiveness in healthcare service delivery as well as engendering transparency, accountability and good governance in Gombe state.

He quoted the governor as saying that “It was disheartening and point of concern seeing that Gombe state was the only state in the whole country without a Hospital Management Board. But with the signing of the Hospitals Services Management Board bill into law, our hospitals will now operate better and ordinary people will now have some reprieve in terms of basic healthcare service”.

The governor gave an assurance that his administration will double up efforts and set up the board so that it will bridge the gap and cover up the lost grounds in this area.

According to the Governor, “with the Contributory Healthcare Management Board Law in place, Gombe state will now align with the national health policy and we shall access the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, which is set aside at the Federation Accounts and which can be accessed only with this law in place. A lot of Governors had since replicated the National Health Insurance Scheme and have been accessing the funds to improve the basic health care services in their respective states.

“With this development, Gombe state has now joined the league and there will be some succour for the people, and in particular the less privileged ones, who find it difficult to get support when needed”.

On the public procurement law, he noted that the bureau had been in existence in the state but without any enabling law.

He said, ” With this law in place, we now have an effective law that will guide our procurement process both at public and private levels. It will also help us in aligning with the fiscal transparency policy, which has been in operation at the federal level, through a project and which I believe if enshrined here will help regulate our financial expenditures and controls towards fulfilling the objectives of fiscal responsibility and transparency”.

He commended the House of Assembly for speedy consideration and passage of the three bills, assuring to enforce compliance with the provisions of the laws.

Earlier, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Sadiq Kurba said the House had scrutinized the bills as sent by the Governor, expressing the belief that the legislation will be to the benefit of the people of the state.

Vanguard