Stop Playing Politics With COVID-19 Directives, FG Warns Governors

The Federal Government has implored some state governors to stop playing politics with the directives issued to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said this on Friday when he featured on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme, ‘Good Morning Nigeria’.

While giving an update on efforts of the Presidential Task Force for the Control of Coronavirus at containing the pandemic, the minister said rifts and counter directives between some states and the federal government in the efforts to contain COVID-19 were uncalled for and unnecessary.

Responding to a question on the controversy over the chopper that flew into Rivers State and the arrest of the pilots, Mohammed said such rift was uncalled for and people should stop politicising COVID-19 fight.

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“The federal government has responsibility to all Nigerians irrespective of the state they reside.

“A situation where the federal government needs exemption for certain category of people but the state government will not cooperate is not helpful.

“We will not succeed if there is no cooperation with the state governments,” he said.

Reacting to question on some state governors that have ordered the relax of stay at home order for Jumat and Easter festivities, the minister said, “We have a very little window, and as of today, there is no known cure or vaccine for this disease all we have is Non Medicinal Intervention basically on prevention and management.

“We need the cooperation of the populace as a whole and they need to listen to what the federal government is saying.

“The whole essence of the lockdown is that by the time we lockdown for 14 days it is a presumption that whoever is incubating the virus must have manifested.

“However, people can contract the disease by not staying at home or not adhering to the hygiene instructions like washing of hands regularly, using hand sanitiser and social distancing,” he said.