Nigeria: We Did Not Collect N3million From Aisha Buhari To Help The Baby Born With Open Heart -UMTH Refutes Reports

Dr. Mohammed Bashir, the Chairman Medical Advisory Council (CMAC) of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital has denied the widely circulated rumors that the First Lady Aisha Buhari gave the hospital N3 million for the operation of baby Aisha who was born with her heart outside the chest.

According to The Nation, the baby named Aisha was admitted at the neonatology centre of the Pediatric Unit of the UMTH after three days of delivery from Gonigori in Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe state awaiting surgery before she finally died of infection of the exposed heart.

Dr. Bashir who spoke to The Nation in Maiduguri said, “the First Lady Aisha Buhari did not donate any cash through us (UMTH) to the baby. What she was planning to do was to fly the baby to Ghana for a surgery.

“It was the N2.5m that Yobe State Government gave that we started making arrangement to take the baby to Enugu when she gave up. I am surprise to hear that the First Lady donated N3m for the surgery of the baby. I want to make it categorically clear that we didn’t receive that money here,” Dr. Bashir informed.

Asked what is the position of the N2.5m donated by the Yobe State Government for the surgery of the baby before she died, Dr. Bashir answered, ”we received instruction from Dr. Babagana, the personal physician of Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam that the sum of N2 million should be returned through him to Yobe State Government while the remaining N500, 000 be given to the family of the baby. We have done exactly. We have sent the money in a Diamond Bank Account,” Dr. Bashir informed.

It will be recalled that baby Aisha passed away early hours of Tuesday 14/06/2016 at the Maiduguri Teaching Hospital after waiting for 10 days for the operation on an open heart surgery barely after the Yobe state Government donated the sum of N2.5 million for the surgery of the baby.