Show Evidence Kogi Is Coronavirus-free, NMA Tackles Governor Yahaya Bello

It is expected that the state government should give Nigerians evidence that they have tested hundreds of people and could not find a case of coronavirus.

The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, on Thursday, urged the Federal Government to caution Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State over his claim that there are no cases of COVID-19 in the state.

NMA also challenged Kogi State Government to show Nigerians evidence that the state was free from COVID-19, rather than downgrading the results released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, which listed the state among those with confirmed cases.

Recall that Kogi State government had earlier reacted to the publication by NCDC, that two positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the state on May 27.

A statement by the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Saka Audu, described it as a “fallacy,” insisting that Kogi was free from COVID-19.

“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 statement partly read.

In a chat with Vanguard, the President of NMA, Dr Francis Faduyile said, “The state government should show its evidence. The people that did the laboratory tests have shown theirs.

“It is expected that the state government should give Nigerians evidence that they have tested hundreds of people and could not find a case of coronavirus.”

Faduyile, who warned that the pandemic was not politics, added, “This problem has nothing to do with politics because it is science. So it is not about what the state accepts or what they do not accept.

“I call on the Federal Government to call Governor Yahaya Bello to order. We have been talking about this and asking the governor for his understanding.

“We don’t live in a world which one man rules. We live in a world where we are governed by scientific evidence. There is something we call 'reproducibility'. If he is not convinced, let us reproduce it again. But not on the state government’s terms. Let us take the samples and do it again.

 “We want the Federal Government to ensure that the right thing is done.”

He appealed to medical doctors and other health workers to continue to follow the normal protocol of seeing patients and treating patients.