The Senate on Tuesday passed for second reading a bill seeking to amend the University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstitution of Boards) Act 2005.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Abba Moro (PDP–Benue), scaled the second reading after he presented its general principles during plenary.

In his lead debate, Moro said the primary purpose of the amendment was to include the Federal University of Health Sciences (FUHS) Otukpo Teaching Hospital, already established and operational under the legal framework governing teaching hospitals in Nigeria.

He explained that the FUHS Otukpo Teaching Hospital is a premier institution dedicated to training healthcare professionals in Benue State and Nigeria at large. The university, he noted, is mandated to produce highly skilled clinical practitioners to meet national healthcare needs.

Moro referenced Section 10 of the National Health Act 2014, which provides the legal framework for establishing teaching hospitals, stating that such institutions must be backed by an Act of the National Assembly.

“This implies that without an Act of the National Assembly, a teaching hospital does not have legal backing. That is the reason for this amendment bill,” he said.

Supporting the bill, Senator Victor Umeh (LP–Anambra) stressed that any university offering medicine must have a teaching hospital, as it is essential for clinical training.

He noted that medical students cannot be fully trained without the hands-on experience derived from a functional teaching hospital, adding that a medical college without one is incomplete.

After the bill passed second reading, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred it to the Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary Institutions) for further legislative work, with a mandate to report back within four weeks.

Akpabio commended the sponsor and contributing lawmakers, noting that the amendment was crucial to ensuring the legal recognition of the FUHS Otukpo Teaching Hospital, which is already operational.