There is drama at the panel of public enquiry set up by the Federal Competition and Protection Commission (FCCPC) to examine the death of Mrs. Peju Ugboma, as doctors at The Premier Specialists’ Medical Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, where the deceased was managed until hours before her death, are conspicuously absent.

The session had been going on well with adresses by Babatunde Irukera, the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the FCCPC, and Moyosore Onigbanjo SAN, the Lagos State Attorney-General, followed by a testimony by the deceased’s husband Ijoma and his cross-examining by the nine-member panel.

However, when Dr. Osinomo Omololu, a doctor at Premier Hospital, was called upon, a lawyer, Abimbola Akeredolu (SAN), showed up to say he was absent.

This was followed by the revelation by Akeredolu that staff of Premier were initially present at the occasion, only to receive communication from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (​MDCN) and Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) that they should leave the sitting otherwise they would lose their licences.

The family of the deceased, though, had opted for the public hearing, willfully letting go of the ‘patient confidentiality’ rule — one of the MDCN’s grievances against the sitting.

Members of the panel are Irukera; Onigbanjo; Benard Onigah,r epresentative of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); Dr. Binyerem Ukaire, MBBS, FWACS, Director, Federal Ministry of Health; Ms Komolafe Olanrewaju Latifah, Lagos State Ministry of Justice; and Afolabi Solebo Esq., General Manager, Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA).

Aondoaver Kuttuh of the Rule of Law Office, OVP; Ms Joan Oluyemi,
Service Improvement Officer for Lagos State Health Sector, Lagos State Ministry of Health; and Ms Anthonia Oredipe, Head of Legal, HEFAMAA, complete the list.