The Lagos State Deputy Governor and All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for the 2027 election, Obafemi Hamzat, has pledged to expand health insurance coverage to one in every three residents and upgrade about 150 primary healthcare centres to round-the-clock facilities if elected governor.
Hamzat said the proposed expansion would improve access to healthcare, protect residents from the financial burden of illness and ensure more communities had access to functional primary healthcare services.
He also promised to increase bed capacity in nine general hospitals, complete ongoing hospital projects and establish a new university of medicine to train more doctors in the state.
Hamzat said expanding the Lagos State health insurance scheme, Ilera Eko, would be a major priority under the health and dignity pillar of his proposed People First agenda.
“Ilera Eko currently has over 1.4 million enrollees. We must expand its coverage to reach one in every three people in Lagos. That allows you to make sure that when illness comes, you don’t get ruined,” he said.
On healthcare infrastructure, Hamzat listed ongoing hospital projects in Ojo, Massey and Shomolu, which he said would collectively provide 580 additional beds.
“Currently, Lagos is building Ojo General Hospital. It’s a 280-bed hospital. Massey Hospital right there that everybody can see is another 150-bed hospital for our children. And then Shomolu Hospital is a 150-bed new addition. That is 580 beds,” he said.
He said his manifesto also provided for a 50 per cent increase in bed capacity across nine general hospitals, including those in Gbagada, Ikorodu, Badagry and Epe.
Hamzat said the expansion was necessary because Lagos hospitals also received patients from neighbouring states. He added that increasing hospital capacity would help the state meet growing demand for healthcare services.
On primary healthcare, the APC candidate said Lagos had more than 300 primary healthcare centres, but only 87 were flagship facilities. He pledged to increase the number to about 150 and ensure they offered services around the clock.
“We’ve also said we have over 300 PHCs in Lagos. Only 87 of them are flagship. We promise to turn about 150 of them into flagship centres,” he said.
Explaining the proposed arrangement, Hamzat said, “What flagship means is that it’s 24/7. When a woman gets sick in the night, or a child is sick, we ensure that the hospital will be ready. That is what we promise.”
The deputy governor also identified increasing the number of doctors as a priority, saying the proposed university of medicine would help train up to 1,000 doctors.
“And then most importantly, we are building a new university of medicine to make sure that we can produce more doctors. Today, the council limits how many we can produce. We want to produce up to a thousand doctors,” he said.
Hamzat maintained that the state’s challenge was not the quality of its doctors but the need to expand healthcare facilities and increase capacity.
The Lagos State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association has reportedly said the state has only 8,200 doctors working in public and private health facilities, against an estimated 30,000 needed to meet the healthcare needs of more than 20 million residents.
The shortage of healthcare workers has been compounded by the continued migration of medical professionals abroad, commonly known as the “Japa” syndrome.
