Medical Tourism: Reps’ bill prescribes 7yrs jail term, N500m fine for public officers

A mild drama yesterday ensued at plenary in the House of Representatives during the debate on a bill seeking seven years jail term or a fine of N500 million or both for public officers who seek medical treatment abroad at public expensive.

A member of the House, Ibrahim Isiaka(APC-Ogun) who seconded the motion for second reading of the bill, later withdrew the motion, sensing controversies in the debate. The proposed piece of legislation is essentially an amendment to an existing Act of the National Assembly.

Titled “A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Health Act, 2014; and for Related Matters (HB. 1611)” the bill is sponsored by Sergius Ogun, who represents Esan North and Esan South East federal Constituency of Edo State. Hardly had Ogun offered the synopsis in the lead debate of the bill than Isiaka raised a point of order on personal privilege, saying he was withdrawing his motion.

He said: “Thank you, Mr speaker for granting me this special privilege. I regret to withdraw my secondment to the bill moved by Serguis Ogun. “Mr Speaker, colleagues, what I heard is quite different from what he is postulating because of that, Mr. Speaker, before it is thrown open for further debate or before you rule, I withdraw my secondment, Mr. Speaker.”.

This was, however, novel to the House and therefore a surprise to many members as no one in the history of the parliament has ever done that. Though his reason for withdrawing the second motion was not understandably explicit, the lawmaker, however, left a subtle feverish feelings that the bill was against the House and would in earnest, when passed into law, stop most members from embarking on medical tourism abroad. The withdrawal caused some laughter in the chambers. Sadly, the Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase, who presided over the plenary in his ruling, said their law did not have any provision for withholding his motion. “Well, Isiaka, I regret also from the chair to tell you that once you second a motion, there is no provision in our law for you to withdraw.

Thank you very much”, Wase ruled, hitting the gavel. Earlier in his lead debate on the general principles of the bill, Ogun said he was not making a new proposal but an amendment to an extant law passed by the national assembly stopping public officers to seeking medical treatment on the account of tax payers money. He however said that the law did not provide for any form of punishment hence the amendment. He added that the new bill prescribed 7 years jail term, an option of N500 million or both as punishment.

The lawmaker said: “The objective of this bill is to amend the principle act so as to make provisions for sanctions against any public officer who violates the provision of that act especially section 46 of the act, that provides that without prejudice to the rights of any Nigerian that seeks medical attention abroad, investigation or treatment anywhere within in and outside Nigeria, no public officer of the government of the Federation or any part thereof shall be sponsored for medical check up, investigation or treatment abroad, at public expense except in exceptional cases on the recommendation and referral by the medical board whose recommendation and referral shall be duly approved by the minister or commissioner of the state as the case maybe.