Medical Staff Ask Tinubu Presidency To Probe Alleged Corruption, Worsening Conditions At Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba

Medical workers and stakeholders at the Federal Neuro-Pyschiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos State, have called on the President Bola Tinubu-led government to address the “worsening state of affairs” and alleged corruption in the institution under Dr Olugbenga Owoeye, the the medical director.

SaharaReporters learnt that Owoeye was appointed the medical director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba between June 1, 2021, and 31 May, 2025; the medical workers said Owoeye has continued at the helm of the affairs to the alleged detriment of the foremost hospital.

In a statement titled, “Worsening state of affairs in the hospital”, the medical staff revealed that the daily realities in the hospital were gory and needed a presidential intervention.

“Parts of the hospital have been without electricity for between 2 to 3 months; two, Utilities in most wards are in a state of disrepair, and many wards are infested with bedbugs. In desperation, staff have to contribute money to buy chemicals for fumigation but with little effect as the exercise is not coordinated.

“Three, effective medications remain unavailable; the quality and quantity of patients’ meals are getting poorer with frequent delays of many hours as huge amounts paid by relatives are being diverted.

“As a result of the above deficits, violent ward breakouts by the patients are occurring more frequently with increasing risks to staff, especially nurses. As a result of these breakouts, two wards complexes have been empty for weeks as the nurses have refused to work on the wards until necessary basic amenities and safety measures are put in place.

“Also, the electronic Medical Record System remains epileptic while the private contractor keeps on being paid for it. It is obvious that quality mental health services cannot be delivered under the conditions listed above.

“Dr Olugbenga Owoeye’s tenure was characterised by allegations of incompetent leadership and unprecedented corruption. Some of these allegations include: diversion of funds for patients’ meals resulting in prolonged delay in providing meals as well as poor quantity and quality of meals;

“Unacceptable delay in completing the construction of out-patient clinic complex not commensurate with millions of Naira that has been released by the government. This has led to patients being seen in an open hall without privacy; complete depletion of drug revolving funds with resultant humongous debts running into hundreds of millions of Naira to major pharmaceutical companies;

“Diversions of funds for maintenance of the hospital facilities resulting in non functioning utilities and epidemic of bedbugs infestation; shady public-private-partnership where the private partner get paid without rendering the service required of them as seen in the Electronic Medical Record project of the hospital, which is virtually non-functional;

“Following months of bearing the brunt of Dr. Owoeye’s misdeeds, stakeholders resulted to bringing the issues to the attention of the relevant authorities in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and The Presidency. Curiously, despite being aware of these allegations, the Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, went ahead to recommend Dr Owoeye to the presidency for renewal of term. However, the recommendation was returned to the FMOH&SW with the instruction that the allegations should be thoroughly investigated.

“It was only then that in early May 2025, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare sent a panel to investigate the allegations levelled against Dr Owoeye. Unfortunately, the panel was compromised, and its activities were choreographed to come to the conclusion that the allegations were baseless. In order to achieve this, none of the relevant stakeholders whose petitions led to the setting up of the panel was interviewed.

“Stakeholders such as Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) and various associations of nurses were not invited for interviews. In fact, the panel had concluded and left before the stakeholders knew there was anything like that.

“On getting to know this, the stakeholders petitioned the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare to inform him of the development, but he did not acknowledge their letters, not to talk of acting on them. The stakeholders, therefore, had to write again to the presidency to report that the investigation was a charade.”

The medical workers said their request and the way forward is that “their only hope of forestalling total collapse of the hospital is for the Presidency to reject the recommendation for renewal of term for Dr Owoeye, and to direct that the extant guidelines should be adhered to while a transparent process for appointing a new substantitive medical director is put in commenced promptly.”

SaharaReporters had reported on July 4 that resident doctors at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Yaba, Lagos State, announced plans to embark on a one-week warning strike in protest over poor welfare and months of unpaid salaries.

Operating under the umbrella of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), the doctors disclosed their decision in a communiqué released.

The statement was jointly signed by the association’s President, Dr. Babarinsa O. A., and Secretary, Dr. Disu K. B.

The ARD had described the situation as “intolerable,” revealing that some newly recruited resident doctors had worked for six months without receiving any remuneration.

A few months ago, SaharaReporters reported that Dr Olugbenga Owoeye admitted to diverting funds meant for patients’ meals and medication to settle electricity and diesel bills.

In audio recordings obtained by SaharaReporters, Owoeye was heard justifying the controversial practice during a recent staff meeting, citing skyrocketing electricity bills and a lack of sufficient funding from the Nigerian government as the rationale behind the move.