President Muhammadu Buhari has replied critics blaming his administration of not implementing initiative to prevent the spread of Coronavirus disease into the country.
While Ahmad Lawan, President of the 9th Senate said the federal government was not doing enough to prevent the spread of the epidemic, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is of the opinion that the negligence and laid back attitude to governance and the welfare of Nigerians by the president led to the avoidable entrance of the deadly corona virus into the country.
The opposition party also expressed shock that the president has not addressed Nigerians since the disease was discovered last Thursday.
But while urging Nigerians not to panic, the president in a statement on Sunday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, said there were efforts put in place to prevent the disease which later found its way through an Italian working in the country.
“President Muhammadu Buhari notes with sadness, the recent confirmation of a case of Covid-19 infection in Lagos, Nigeria,” the statement read.
“This was despite the ardent efforts of the government regarding preparedness and response measures put in place in our country’s borders and beyond.
“President Buhari, however, commends the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies whose diligence and efficiency enabled the case to be detected, diagnosed and isolated quickly, even while swift measures were taken to identify and follow up on those with whom the index patient came into contact.
“The President commends the responses of the Federal Ministry of Health and Governments of Lagos and Ogun States as well as other relevant agencies to the reported incident and calls for vigilance on the part of all citizens and responsible government agencies.
“President Buhari urges Nigerians not to panic about the news of this first case of Covid-19 in our country, as undue alarm would do us more harm than good.
“Instead, Nigerians should strictly observe the advisories disseminated by the Ministry of Health, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the World Health Organisation (WHO), on the best way to prevent infection,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the PDP in the last general election, Atiku Abubakar, has advised the federal government on how best to tackle the disease from spreading further.
