RSG Denies Bribery Allegation …Partners NWAN To Vaccinate Girls

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has described as fabricated, false and baseless, latest allegations that he offered bribes to Supreme Court Justices in order to procure a faourable verdict, in the governorship election matter that was decided by the apex court earlier in the year.
In a statement released in Port Harcourt by the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr. Austin Tam-George, Wike condemned the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its media surrogates for perpetuating a tiresome and unsubstantiated propaganda.
The statement warned media practitioners and politicians of the consequences of making defamatory statements.
Reacting to recent reports of bribery by Sahara Reporters, a US-based online news platform, the statement warned that “even the seemingly ungoverned territory of online publication cannot escape justice, if it is used to spread falsehood and to defame”.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Government has assured that it would partner with the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Rivers State branch, in their target to vaccinate about 1,000 girls in the state against cervical cancer before the end of this year.
The state Deputy Governor, Dr Ipalibo Harry Banigo, disclosed this while speaking at the opening ceremony of the Medical Women Association of Nigeria Week at the state House of Assembly Complex, Port Harcourt.
Banigo said that the state government under Governor Nyesom Wike would soon launch a healthcare financing scheme in a bid to boost healthcare delivery in the state.
The deputy governor restated the commitment of the state government towards the provision of affordable, accessible, and available healthcare delivery for the people, assuring that primary and secondary healthcare services are to be made more functional for optimal benefit.
Reflecting on this year’s International Day of the Girl Child celebration, Banigo decried the absence of accurate data on violence perpetrated against women and children, saying it has impeded any plan of action to remedy the situation.
“I was pleased, when I worked with the observatory on violence against women and children and found out that most of the time we don’t have enough data on how much gender based violence is going on, and when we don’t have enough data, we cannot really plan to remedy the situation,” she stated.
The deputy governor commended the Medical Women Association of Nigeria for rendering humanitarian services to the people and encouraged the body to continue its good work.
In his keynote address, the Regional Community Health Manager of Shell for Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Akinwunmi Fajola, stressed the need for Public Private Partnership (PPP) in healthcare delivery, noting that “healthcare financing is not all about resources, but is all about resourcefulness.”
Earlier in her welcome address, the President of Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Rivers State branch, Dr Rosemary Ogu, had said that the focus of the association was to provide health information on the various health challenges facing the people, and commended the state government and other corporate organizations for their support towards ensuring the success of their week-long event.