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MDCN Suspends Beautiful Lagos Plastic Surgeon over Failed Surgery
A Lagos plastic surgeon, Anuoluwapo Adepoju, whose services allegedly resulted in the death of her patient, Nneka Onwuzuligbo, has been suspended indefinitely by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
MDCN took the interim disciplinary action against Ms Adepoju, owner of Med-Contour, a plastic surgery hospital, on Monday, pending the determination of her case with its disciplinary tribunal.
The plastic surgeon allegedly operated on the late Onwuzuligbo, a 2013 winner of Face of Democracy Transformation in Nigeria, at a medical facility on December 31, 2018.
The news of her patient’s death first went viral in February 2019.
Ms Adepoju is also currently being investigated over suspicion of illegal activities and alleged evasion from an investigation into the failed plastic surgery.
She is also charged with failure to comply with a summons by The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
With the charges, nonetheless, Ms Adepoju continues to showcase photos and videos of her numerous cosmetic surgeries, ‘positive’ feedbacks, and patient transformations on her hospital’s Instagram handle which boasts over 74,000 followers.
The self-confessed body contour specialist and mother of two is also an Instagram celebrity who openly flaunts her curves.
Reacting to the development, FCCPC said it welcomed MDCN’s decision to impose interim measures suspending the plastic surgeon indefinitely from practicing medicine pending full and final disposition of disciplinary proceedings.
‘‘Every action, whether interim or final that prevents the risk of injury to patients/consumers and or mitigates the pain and suffering of citizens on account of injury by manufacturers or service providers is an important component of a larger effort to protect citizens.
‘’This is a demonstration that the system works and can endure, as well as inure to the benefit of society. Whether patient care or good manufacturing, ultimately, the highest responsibility is to consumers. We, as regulators, must hold producers and providers accountable to that obligation,’’ Ondaje Ijagwu, the agency’s spokesman, said in a statement issued on Monday.
The Lagos University Teaching Hospital had urged the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Investigation Panel to investigate the alleged professional misconduct of the Lagos plastic surgeon.
The hospital, in a petition dated June 11, 2020, and signed by its Director of Legal Services, O. O. Olajide, accused Ms Adepoju of professional misconduct during a surgery she performed on Ms Onwuzuligbo at her facility.
According to LUTH, Ms Adepoju had continued to perform surgeries despite the fact that her facility was sealed off by the Lagos State Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency.
In an affidavit attached to the petition, the hospital alleged that she (suspect) referred the victim from her facility to LUTH on January 3, 2019, on the pretext that she was being referred from the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island.
The victim, according to the affidavit deposed to by a consultant surgeon, Andrew Ugburo, was presented to LUTH with severe respiratory distress and septicemia with infected surgical wounds.
Mr Ugburo further deposed that the victim developed multiple organ failure of cardiac, respiratory and renal failures.
He also said the patient had a cardiac arrest “on the 31st day of admission”, adding that after cardio-pulmonary resuscitation was unsuccessful, the victim was certified dead around 9 a.m. on February 3, 2019.
Premium Times
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
