Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central District, has called for immediate attention to the Ukpogo Cottage Hospital in Okene in the proposed 2025 budget.
In a statement released yesterday in Abuja by her Chief Press Secretary, Israel Arogbonlo, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan emphasized the importance of ensuring the hospital becomes fully operational to provide much-needed healthcare services to the community.
Addressing the Senate Committee on Health during a Saturday meeting with heads of federal medical centres, the senator raised concerns about the poor state of the Ukpogo Cottage Hospital, a 50-bed capacity facility annexed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Lokoja.
Despite substantial federal investments in the hospital, she lamented that the facility remains non-functional, defeating its purpose of catering to accident and emergency cases along the busy Okene-Auchi Road.
“There is a facility annexed to you called the Ukpogo Cottage Hospital, Okene. It’s a 50-bed capacity, fully equipped hospital. Why has it not been operational, considering the fact that it is an extension of the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, and was established purposely to cater to accidents and armed robbery cases along the busy Okene-Auchi Road?” she queried.
The senator also questioned whether the hospital’s operational costs were accounted for in the 2025 budget.
In response, Dr. Olatunde Alabi, the Chief Medical Director of FMC Lokoja, revealed that the hospital was handed over to FMC Lokoja four years ago. However, he noted that various challenges had stalled its functionality.
He explained that efforts to assign staff to the hospital had been hindered by a critical shortage of personnel at FMC Lokoja, which has made it impossible to run the annexed facility.
Dr. Alabi appealed to the Senate Committee for urgent intervention, stressing that activating the Ukpogo Cottage Hospital would significantly ease the burden on FMC Lokoja, particularly from patients in the Kogi Central Area.
He also raised concerns about the hospital’s unused equipment, warning that continued inaction would lead to further deterioration and wastage of resources.
