SAFAR 25 1431 A.H.
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2010.
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Acting President: Govs didn’t direct NASS against Yar’adua-Saraki
From YUSUF ABU, Ilorin
Kwara state governor, Alhaji Bukola Saraki yesterday said the governors did not direct the National Assembly regarding President Yar’adua’s absence but only appealed to them to consider Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as acting president of the country.
Saraki stated this while answering questions from journalists on the state of the nation.
He said some people are only interested in causing confusion, that was why they alleged that the governors were directing the National Assembly to do just that.
He explained that the governors only appealed to the National Assembly to move a motion to consider the vice president as acting president of the country.
''We hold the members of he National Assembly in high esteem and there was never a time in our address where we said we are directing the members to consider the vice president as the acting president,'' he further explained.
The governor noted that it is the work of some fifth columnists who always want to create a scene that does not exist in order to use the opportunity for their own interest.
On the issue of the just concluded election in Anambra state, Saraki commended the INEC chairman for the peaceful polls.
He also congratulated the governor of Anambra state for his re-election, adding that the election was keenly contested .
Meanwhile, the Chairman Nigeria Governors’ Forum and governor of Kwara state, Alhaji Bukola Saraki yesterday said that the governors of the 36 states of the federation will support the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria in their quest to stop maternal mortality in the country.
Saraki stated this when the executive members of the Council paid him a courtesy call at Government House, Ilorin.
He said that almost all the states of the federation have done one thing or the other on the issue of maternal mortality.
The governor said no state will allow its women and children to continue to die as a result of lack of doctors and other essential requirements for the provision of quality health care services.
He said for Kwara state, his administration has even signed into law a State Safe Motherhood to provide better heathcare for the people.
He said for now, no fewer than 500 nurses will be employed by the state government and that those who retired will also be considered in order to tap from their wealth of experience from the field of Nursing.
He also said that the state government in collaboration with the local governments, has provided accommodation and other infrastructure that will support the doctors to live in rural areas for better service delivery.
Earlier in her address, the Chairman of the Council, Mrs Rebeca Aikhomu had said the Council was established under Decree 8(9) of 1979 known as Nursing and Midwifery Council.
She said the Council was saddled with the responsibility of ensuring effective and quality service delivery in the country.
She said the rate of maternal mortality in the country is between 800 to 1,500 per 100,000 births, adding that about 40 per cent of deaths was also recorded during pregnancy as against the usual 15 per cent average death so.
She said most of the deaths are caused due to lack of access to anti-natal care, adding that Nigerian women still used the traditional mode of giving birth at home and even in churches.
