The senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Wednesday, commissioned a new, fully-equipped maternity centre to mark her 46th birthday in Ihima, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The state-of-the-art facility, built and furnished with modern 21st-century maternal and neonatal technologies, attracted community leaders, health professionals, traditional rulers, women’s groups and supporters who described it as one of the most transformative health interventions in the district’s recent history.

In her address, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan clarified assumptions surrounding the project’s funding sources. She said the maternity centre was financed through a crowdfunding initiative and not from Kogi Central constituency allocations.

She restated that her slogan, “Making the Strange Familiar”, captures her drive to turn community dreams into visible, functional realities.

According to her, “Ninety-nine percent of the people who contributed financially to this maternity centre are not even from Kogi State. This project is a people-driven gift, a labour of love, and completely separate from constituency funds.”

She said the clarification was necessary to correct misinformation and reaffirm her commitment to accountability and ethical representation.

The senator also explained that the development projects she recently initiated at the Federal Government College (FGC) Idoani, including an auditorium and staff quarters, were similarly financed outside the constituency budget.

She said leadership, to her, “is not merely the allocation of public funds but the capacity to inspire collaborations, attract goodwill and mobilise resources for the common good.”

Clarifying another trending issue, she stated that the six newly built houses she gifted to her six legislative aides were funded from her personal purse.

“Those houses were built by me personally. They are not constituency projects. They are my way of appreciating loyal aides who have walked this journey with me,” she said, stressing the need for public officers to distinguish their private philanthropy from official responsibilities.

Healthcare experts who toured the new maternity centre described it as one of the finest community-level maternal facilities in the North-Central region. With world-class delivery suites, neonatal units, digital monitoring systems and emergency response equipment, the centre is expected to reduce maternal and infant mortality and improve access to quality care.

Residents of Ihima expressed gratitude for what they described as “a miracle long awaited”, saying the centre would serve thousands of families within and beyond Kogi Central. (The Sun)

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