Abuja hospital denies charging late Senator in dollars

The management of Nizamiye Hospital, Abuja, has lamented the negative reports about its conduct following the death of late Senator Ibrahim Musa Kontagora in its facility.

The hospital through its Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Abubakar, on Friday evening, said contrary to reports, the late Senator’s family paid for his treatment and was not indebted to the hospital in any way.

Abubakar said the hospital even refunded money deposited by the late Senator’s family for his treatment following his passing.

He stated that the sum of money paid was in Naira, contrary to reports in certain quarters that the hospital charges its patients in dollars.

Abubakar said the late Senator’s family is embarrassed by the story in the media and has called to distance themselves from the purported allegation, and appealing to the hospital to remain calm in the face of the reports allegedly intended to ruin the facility’s hard-earned reputation.

“This man (late senator) came in from another hospital almost 10 days ago, and immediately he arrived. Actually, he underwent surgery, a minor procedure, actually.

“They (doctors) drained the clot from his brain. That was the only thing. One of our doctors recommended stem cell treatment for him, but that was not even possible because he was not stable.

“So he was in the ICU, we even had to refund the money paid. Yes, we refunded the money they deposited for his treatment today so we don’t know where this negative reports are coming from, even the family members are not happy with such reports because the reports are far from the truth.

“They (family) said it is not from them, and because the Senator was a politician, maybe one politician did that, but there is nothing like that. We have done our best, and, you know, everything, healing is in the hands of God, not even a doctor,” he said.

Abubakar affirmed that the hospital did its best to save the Senator’s life and that all necessary procedures regarding his treatment were concluded.

“It is not true that we could not proceed on further procedures for his treatment because of a certain amount. There was nothing like that, and all the necessary things were actually done. And we did not charge in dollars. No, how can we even charge in dollars? This is Nigeria. We work only with Naira.

“Like I said earlier,the family has called and apologized to us, saying they are not even happy over such malicious reports. The Senator’s brother has actually been my friend for a long time.

“So I even asked him what the problem was, he said he doesn’t know what is happening. He called me by himself to say, ‘I’m sorry, this thing is not from us.”

Abubakar wondered the rumours could have emanated from, suggesting it may be sabotage, ”This is the third time something like this is happening. This is the third time I feel something like that is coming out.

“I was surprised to see the news like that. He spent almost 10 days in our facility, and he was referred to our hospital from another hospital,” he said.

Abubakar said contrary to the reports, the deceased family “have enough money in their account, to the extent that we have to even refund them the amount they deposited.

“Again, this issue of not completing the money is not there. It’s fake, totally untrue. I don’t know where that one is coming from, or maybe somebody is trying to use that to get money from the family, we are not sure. It’s really unfortunate,” he remarked.

Meanwhile, an official of the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, under anonymity, encouraged the deceased’s family to seek redress through the ministry.

“We  advise that the relatives of the late Senator should write and report officially to the Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate, as well as the Mandate Secretary, Health  explaining the circumstances of this situation immediately,” the official stated.