The Federal Executive Council, on Wednesday, approved the award of contract for the Nigeria Police Trust Fund for the supply of vehicles and insurance cover for other vehicles at a total cost of N4,541,829,704.17.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, disclosed this to State House correspondents shortly after this week’s council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The vehicles include Toyota Landcruisers, Toyota Prado 2021 model and Toyota Camry.
Dingyadi noted that the vehicles will be deployed for tactical operations to achieve “the vision and strategic deployment in a bid to strategise for better security networking, as well as aid strategic deployment of technical squads to tackle insecurity across the country.”
The insurance, he said, is intended to cover all the 450 vehicles purchased by the Police Trust Fund between 2020 and 2022.
FEC similarly approved N592,271,792.48 for the procurement of Magnetic Resonance Imaging equipment for the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife.
The Minister of State for Health, Ekumankama Joseph, who spoke alongside his counterpart in the Ministry of Police Affairs revealed that the procurement became necessary because of poor services to patients suffering from ailments requiring thorough diagnosis.
According to Joseph, the teaching hospital has only one 0.2 Tesla MRI equipment, which is now obsolete.
“So, we have been having challenges of giving the very best of health services to people, patients who come to the hospital for diagnostic services and treatment.
“Today, FEC approved the procurement and supply of one Unit A 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine, and other accessories for the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife in favour of Messrs CG Gasta Company Limited in the sum of N592,271,792.48. This is inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT with a delivery period of six months.
“With the procurement of this equipment, it is strongly believed that most patients that usually travel to Lagos or other surrounding environments close to Ile-Ife, to seek better medical services, will now be able to have the comfort and leisure of staying back in Ife to get the medical services they need in terms of diagnosis and treatment at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital,” he explained.
