Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has on Thursday, May 7th raised the alarm on how the presidential task force for COVID-19 is pressurizing the state to announce the false COVID-19 cases in the state.
According to Dr. Saka Haruna, the Commissioner for Health, the state is really under pressure to declare the first COVID-19 cases in the state where there is none.
He made the claims in the statement on Thursday, May 7th, 2020.
However, he said that the state would not submit to the pressure.
His statement followed the report, which claimed that four persons suspected to be COVID-19 patients had already died at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, last week.
He made a declaration saying that as the state commissioner for health/manager for COVID-19 in the state and a member of the Governing board of the FMC Lokoja, he had yet to informed any form of Coronavirus cases.
The further stated: “There is also a representative of the FMC Lokoja in the state’s squadron against COVID-19 /Lassa fever and never for once was any such case raised in our meetings.
The commissioner alleged that the aim of those putting pressure on the state was to politicize the situation as they are not happy that the current administration has been scored high by local and international observers on health care.
He added, “First and foremost, it is imperative that the public realize that there is no state government that can deliberately put her people in harm’s way for whatever political reason and the current administration has been scored high by local and international observers on health. We have and will continue to put the health of our people as the first priority.
“We have been in an annual fight against Lassa fever as the state is located in the Lassa fever belt, recording several cases with regrettable losses.
We were first to establish a Biosafety Laboratory for Lassa fever in Nigeria and this year alone we have confirmed 30 cases of Lassa fever that was duly announced.
To accuse the state of a cover-up of COVID-19 cases is mischievous and at best politically inclined.”
