The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had said that reporting more or fewer cases of coronavirus did not attract support from the Federal Government to states.
This was disclosed on Tuesday through the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu while speaking at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 press briefing
There had been unconfirmed reports before now that some states distort the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in their state. This is done with the intention of attracting financial support from the federal government.
According to the NCDC DG, “Whether you report more or less, there is no direct relationship between the number of cases and how much support you get,
“So, I don’t see the benefit of either reporting more or reporting less.”
In relation, the National Coordinator of the PTF, Mr. Sani Aliyu, added that the Federal Government cannot continue to drive the COVID-19 initiatives.
He appeals to states to take responsibility by ensuring the well-being of their people.
He said “We encourage states to come up with their own state-specific initiatives,” Aliyu said.
“This pandemic is going to be with us for a little while longer and it cannot continue to be driven primarily from the federal level.
“We have to ensure that the state government starts taking ownership. Our primary responsibility is to provide guidance to the states and make sure that those decisions that we have taken at the federal level are being implemented in one way or the other by the state government.
“The key responsibility of any government is to ensure the health and well-being of their people and I am sure that the state governors are doing the same as well.”
