Gov. Yahaya Bello and Health Minister, Osagie Ehanire
By Our Reporter
Hours after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 389 new cases and stated that two were from Kogi state, the state government has described NCDC’s statement as untrue and stated that the state is COVID-19 free.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Kogi commissioner for health, Saka Haruna Audu, said the state government has developed “full testing capacity” and “conducted hundreds of tests” which have come back negative, a position that is contrary to that of the NCDC.
In the statement, Audu said the state would not be a party “to any fictitious COVID-19 claims”.
“Kogi State till this very moment is Covid-19 free. We have developed full testing capacity and have conducted hundreds of tests so far which have come back negative,” he said.
“We have also continued to insist that we will not be a party to any fictitious COVID-19 claims which is why we do not recognise any COVID-19 test conducted by any Kogite outside the boundaries of the State except those initiated by us.
“Any attempt to force us to announce a case of COVID-19 will be vehemently rejected.”
The commissioner asked residents of the state to continue to take all necessary precautions to prevent a spread of the disease.
“We are more than prepared to secure the life of our people and have no interest in playing politics with their health concerns,” he said.
