Peju Ugboma: Premier hospital doctor, accused of misconduct, testifies

A consultant doctor at the Premier hospital on Monday testified in the ongoing coroner’s inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of a Lagos-based chef, Peju Ugboma.

Adeniyi Akinseku is one of three doctors the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council of Nigeria (MDPCN) said it established “a prima facie” case of professional misconduct in the events leading to Mrs Ugboma’s death.

The deceased died days after undergoing fibroid surgery at the hospital in 2021. She was the founder of a pastry company, I Luv Desserts.

Mr Akinseku told the coroner, M.K.O Fadeyi, that he started working with Premier Hospital on March 1, 2020, as a full-time staff but “converted to a part-time staff in December 2020.”

This, he said, was due to a “permanent job” he secured at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Ogun State.

He said he works with Premier Hospital on Wednesdays, Fridays, and sometimes weekends.

When the hospital lawyer, Abimbola Akeredolu, asked him “how come Mr Ugboma said he didn’t see you?”

The deceased’s husband, Ijoma Ugboma, had said he did not see the doctor who performed his late wife’s surgery.

“He (Mr Ugboma) was there at the recovery room, he spoke with me and I explained to him. He came with three of his friends, and we went to the blood bank,” Mr Akinseku said to counter Mr Ugboma’s claim.

“Even on Sunday, he was there and I was there and he even asked me questions.”

The doctor said he has evidence to show that he was present at the hospital and he didn’t abandon his duty as claimed by the deceased’s husband.

Mrs Akeredolu submitted the evidence – an “electronic logging system” printout.

But the deceased’s family lawyer, Babatunde Ogungbamila, objected to the evidence because “it is not admissible.”

“I will be citing Section 84 and I want it to be put on record because anybody can write anything and show it before the court,” Mr Ogungbamila said.

“I understand that this coroner is not bound by the rules of evidence and that this coroner can admit any document that would aid the coroner in arriving at his decision; however, it is also important that whatever document brought before the coroner cannot be in doubt and this one is a big doubt.”

But, Mrs Akerdolu, said “we have interested parties here whose interests are not aligned with my lord’s interest. To the extent that those interests are present and are protecting their interest.

“The husband of the deceased said the that he (doctor) was negligent, he performed that surgery and disappeared.”

The coroner, in his response, said the evidence needs to be checked.

Earlier in the proceedings, a paediatrician at the hospital, Chineze Fadipe, told the coroner that she was issued a summons to appear before the court, adding that her role in the surgery was “essentially administrative.”

During cross-examination with a state lawyer, O.A Akinde, she was asked, “when a patient is not producing a minimum threshold of urine, that is an issue?”

“Yes it is,” she replied.

She said that in medicine, the doctors must provide patients with the best care, “but we do not have control over all the factors.”

The paediatrician said that when the Lagos State government shut down the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, “there was no penalty, no sanction, no fine.”

Further hearing was fixed for March 28, April 11, and May 9.