Despite being expelled from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Enugu State governor and Enugu East senator Chimaroke Nnamani has continued to publicly endorse the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Nnamani described his expulsion—carried out by the PDP National Working Committee on allegations of anti‑party activities and constitutional breaches—as “illegal.” Yet, barely a week after his removal, he once again praised Tinubu’s contributions to nation‑building.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Nnamani highlighted Tinubu’s achievements in Lagos State’s health sector. He noted that, during Tinubu’s tenure as governor, HIV/AIDS prevalence fell from 6.7 % to 3.5 % between 1999 and 2007, and more than 2,000 women accessed Prevention of Mother‑to‑Child Transmission services at ten newly established PMTCT centres. Tinubu also launched the Roll‑Back‑Malaria programme, providing free treatment to over 3.6 million patients, distributing more than one million treated nets, and supplying BCC/IEC materials.
To combat poliomyelitis, Tinubu introduced a national immunisation programme that saw Lagos State contribute to vaccinating over 2.5 million children. His administration also started a School Health Programme, offering free eye screenings and treatment to approximately 6,600 students and supplying free milk to more than 900 public schools, benefiting about 297 000 pupils.
Nnamani emphasized that Tinubu’s free health‑care and reproductive initiatives covered children under 12 and adults over 60, with prenatal care provided at no cost to expectant mothers. Regarding eye health, he reported that Lagos State’s Blindness Preventive Programme examined over 654 000 adults, provided free glasses and medication to 221 000 people, and performed 11 000 free surgical procedures.
Financially, the Lagos State health budget rose dramatically under Tinubu, increasing from N1.6 billion to N11.8 billion between 1999 and 2006. This expansion created more than 3 400 jobs and facilitated the training of over 5 000 health‑care professionals. To curb brain drain, Tinubu introduced several allowances for medical staff and launched initiatives such as a rural health ambulance boat service, 24‑hour hospital‑based emergency services, pre‑hospital ambulance services, a drug‑quality control laboratory, an environmental health monitoring unit, and the completion of abandoned hospital projects.
Nnamani concluded that Tinubu’s “10‑Point Agenda,” also known as the Lagos Economic Advanced Programme, earned the state national and international awards for its health‑sector reforms. He argued that Tinubu’s record in Lagos positions him well to lead the country at this juncture.
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