The Senate has expressed its reservations over foreign trips for medical treatment by President Muhammadu Buhari and other top senior public officials.
It demanded that the State House clinic should be made functional, effective from next year.
The Senate discomfort with the dysfunctional state of the State House Clinic was on the heels of defence of budget estimate for 2021 by State House Permanent Secretary, Tijani Umar, who appeared on Thursday before the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs led by Senator Danjuma La’ah.
Senator La’ah who assured the State House Permanent Secretary that the budget of N19.7 billion for 2021, out of which N1.3 billion was proposed for the State House Clinic would be approved by his Committee, however, said President and other top officials of his administration should review their incessant medical trips.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after defending his budget, Alhaji Umar said adequate measures would be taken to meet the medical needs of the president and other top officials within the country once the budget was approved.
