In a move that intensifies the growing concerns over financial mismanagement at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos State, the institution’s Medical Director, Dr Olugbenga Owoeye, has admitted to diverting funds meant for patients’ meals and medication to settle electricity and diesel bills.
In audio recordings exclusively obtained by newsmen, Owoeye is heard justifying the controversial practice during a recent staff meeting, citing skyrocketing electricity bills and a lack of sufficient funding from the Nigerian Government as the rationale behind the move.
He said: “Our NEPA (electricity) bills in this hospital is between N35 million to N40 million every month. Diesel is about N18 million monthly. That is N58 million. And those who remove the dead people and other stuff, let’s say about N2 million to N3 million. And they [the government] are giving us N23 million to manage and run the hospital. So how will we use this N23 million to pay NEPA bills of N40 million, N18 million of diesel?”
He continued, narrating how electricity was disconnected at the facility and how he had to plead with the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja. “The last time they cut our light, I ran to Abuja to go and meet the Permanent Secretary. I asked what can you do for me in the ministry to help me pay the N40 million bills. The woman told me they have also cut the light of the federal ministry… that everybody is managing themselves.”
Owoeye then revealed how the hospital management resorted to sourcing funds internally. “We put our head together… The money we were able to make from the system and they [the power company] installed our light. That was how we stopped having issue with light… The balance on how we paid it — it is from the little, little money that we get from the gains of drugs, gains from patients’ foods, that we combine and add to that money to pay these bills.”
Hospital sources told newsmen that the admission has not gone down well with staff members, many of whom had already been grumbling over deteriorating working conditions, poor patient care, and what they describe as years of opaque financial dealings by the MD.
“Since the last publication, he has been holding meetings with staff members in order to prevent imminent outright protests against him,” said a staff member who requested anonymity.
“In one of those meetings, he claimed that the reason for the lack of food and medications for patients was that he had to use patients’ food and medication money to pay the exorbitant electricity bills.”
Despite Owoeye’s claim that no money was released for capital projects in 2024 and none so far in 2025, available documents reveal otherwise.
Between the third quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance released a staggering N686 million to the hospital.
Yet, sources say there is little to show for it. The facility continues to battle dilapidated infrastructure, broken amenities, and a severe shortage of drugs and food for patients, conditions that insiders say reflect gross financial recklessness.
In what has further raised eyebrows, the Medical Director also confirmed owning a private hospital near the government-run facility and admitted to earning monthly income from it.
Newsmen earlier reported how a coalition of stakeholders petitioned anti-graft agencies, accusing Owoeye of widespread corruption and mismanagement.
The petition, signed by one Victor Ajasegun, alleged that since Owoeye assumed office four years ago, the hospital had declined into chaos.
Among the charges were unilateral decision-making, financial virement, abuse of procurement procedures, and the systemic dismantling of administrative structures that had previously ensured efficient patient care.
One example cited was the demolition of the outpatient clinic without prior consultation with stakeholders, a project that was promised to be completed in six months but remains unfinished nearly three years later. As a result, patients are now forced to consult doctors in open dining halls, raising serious concerns about privacy and professionalism.
The petition also detailed how a once-efficient feeding system was dismantled by Owoeye, leaving patients without regular meals and suppliers owed millions. Despite the MD’s excuse that inflation and economic challenges were to blame, insiders claim his direct control over the feeding budget has enabled unchecked misappropriation.
When contacted, the Medical Director told newsmen that what he was doing was not diversion but the only way to save the institution from collapsing.
He said: “Even as I am speaking to you, I am still battling with how to pay N39 Million electricity bills for March. And nobody is willing to help. The audio records you obtained was when I was explaining to the staff the situation. And I am not diverting any fund. I am just channelling the gains we made to pay our debts.”
“Those claiming I am diverting or embezzling are the miscreants inside the institution. They are doing this for their selfish interests. And their claims are mischievous and I don’t think anybody that loves this country should take them seriously. I am ready for anyone who is willing to come down to inspect things himself. I am not hiding anything. You should come and see the situation yourself, then you will pity us,” the MD added.
