Governor Peter Mbah signs Enugu SUMAS teaching hospital bill into law

The Enugu State University of Medical and Applied Sciences (SUMAS) Teaching Hospital Bill was signed into law by Governor Peter Peter Mbah on Tuesday.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), SUMAS was developed by former Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and is located in Igboeno, Udenu Council Areas.

Speaking at the occasion in Enugu, Mbah promised to speed up the process of establishing the teaching hospital.

He stated that the facility would deliver quality training and healthcare services in the state’s Enugu North senatorial zone, as well as the entire state.

He praised the Enugu State House of Assembly for moving quickly on the processing and passage of the executive Bill and stated that the building of SUMAS Teaching Hospital was consistent with his manifesto.

“What we have done by signing into law the Enugu SUMAS Teaching Hospital Bill is that we now have in place a legal framework to immediately begin to put in place all that is required to upgrade SUMAS to a teaching hospital.

“This is part of our campaign promises and we are committed to delivering on that expeditiously.

“We believe that the importance and significance of siting a teaching hospital in our Enugu North zone can never be lost on us.

“So, we are not going to spend any time in making sure that everything necessary and required to upgrade and get the teaching hospital operational is put in place.
“With this law, we are going to redouble our commitment and our efforts to achieve that.”
He assured the SUMAS Governing Council and Management of his continuous support and stated that his administration will also rely on their experience and relationships to bring the teaching hospital to fruition in record time.
“We are going to continue to support you and we are also going to continue to count on your experience, network, and profile in raising resources to actualize the project.
“This year alone, we are going to spend 33 per cent of our budget on education. This underscores the importance of education to this administration.
Uchenna Ugwu, Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, praised Mbah’s quick and consistent delivery of his campaign pledges.
He stated that the House of Assembly was always ready to expedite any executive law that would benefit the state and its citizens.

“We promised we are going to support this administration by doing our job expeditiously to ensure that there is no delay in your delivery of democracy dividends to our people.

“Therefore, the SUMAS Teaching Hospital Bill received an expedited hearing and today you have the signing of the Bill into Law,” he stated.

The practice was seen by the Chairman of the SUMAS Governing Council, Msgr. Obiora Ike, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. James Ogbonna, the institution’s top echelons, and other government officials.