Kogi
Nigerian government to dispatch experts to re-engage Kogi on coronavirus
The Federal Government on Thursday announced that a ministerial team of experts would soon be dispatched to Kogi on a mission to engage authorities of the state, to determine material and technical needs of the state on COVID-19. The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, made the announcement in Abuja at a news conference by the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19. Newsmen report that the Kogi Government had alleged refusal of NCDC officials to observe protocols in line with the containment of the coronavirus when they visited the state. The allegation stirred up drama between the two parties as the NCDC officials left Kogi without adhering to terms and conditions, rolled out by Gov. Yahaya Bello. Following the development, Ehanire said the committee would need to re-engage the governor an...
Kogi: We bought 5,000 coronavirus test kits
Kogi State government has dismissed the notion that it’s not testing enough to justify the claim that the state is free of Covid-19. It claimed that it has bought 5,000 test kits to show its committment to the fight against Covid-19. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, in it’s situation report on Covid-19 response across states published on Tuesday said Kogi had submitted only one sample, since the outbreak of the virus in Nigeria. The sample returned negative. The NCDC’s report comes few days after the state government said it tested 111 persons without the supervision of the health agency. Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, had claimed that the testing kits procured by the state were used to conduct the tests and that those tested were picked randomly. In a statement...
NCDC: Only one coronavirus test conducted in Kogi
No more than one test has been carried out in Kogi State since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Nigeria on February 27. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reports that, as of May 18, 35,983 tests have been carried out across the country, while 5,959 have been confirmed positive for the virus. According to the NCDC update on the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, which was made available on its website, Kogi recorded the lowest number of tests with no confirmed case. This was followed by Cross River State with seven COVID-19 tests conducted but no positive case. Lagos State, which had the highest number of tests at 14,886, also topped the list of confirmed cases at 2,550. Similarly, the Federal Capital Territory was reported to have conducted 4,688 tests and confirmed 418 cases, while ...
PDP expels former Kogi guber aspirant
Son of former governor Ibrahim Idris and a governorship aspirant of the People Democratic Party, PDP, in the November 2019 Kogi Guber election, Abubakar Ibrahim, has been expelled from the party for supposedly anti-party activities. Ibrahim’s expulsion followed fortnight directive of the state executive to the Disciplinary Committee set up by his home PDP of Icheke Ward in Omala Local Government Area to explore charges against him. The executive also wants his father, former governor Ibrahim Idris to face similar fate from the national Board of Trustee which he belongs to. Abubakar had however in a swift response said the supposed expulsion was a political gimmick to arm-twist him from stepping down his case at the Supreme court where he (Abubakar) is challenging the winner of the Guber pr...
68 travellers hidden in trucks arrested in Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministerial Task-team on the enforcement of COVID-19 Restrictions, on Wednesday, arrested about 68 persons travelling through the territory from various parts of Nigeria. Confirming the incident in Abuja, the Chairman of the task force, Ikharo Attah, lamented the increasing rate in which people violate the ban on interstate travel as announced by President Muhammadu Buhari. According to him: “Drivers of the two Dangote trucks who were coming from Kano and Zaria after delivering goods, they now took passengers who were charged N1,500 each. “Owners of the trucks must do all to ensure their trucks which are meant for haulage of goods are not converted to be illegally transporting persons from one state to another, thus violating the lockdown directives of t...
Nigeria governors meet Wednesday on quick way out of coronavirus effects
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum says it will meet on Wednesday to review the situation of COVID-19 pandemic in various states, and as well find paths for a quick way out of the effects of the pandemic. The forum made this known in a statement by Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, NGF Head, Media and Public Affairs, in Abuja on Tuesday. Bello-Barkindo said issues to be discussed at the 8th teleconference meeting, according to the invitation sent from the NGF Director-General, Mr Asishana Bayo Okauru, include update from the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. He also listed a new initiative codenamed CACOVID-Volunteer Health Workers Support Scheme to States, including a consideration for a CACOVID–Healthcare Training Proposal, among others. Bello-Barkindo said: “The state governors will also take a...
Edo screens 104,186 persons for coronavirus, discharges one, contact traces 689 others
The Edo State Government, as part of efforts to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, has ramped up ongoing screening and testing exercise across the state’s 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs), screening over 104,186 persons, testing about 704 residents and contact tracing over 689 others who have had various degrees of contacts with confirmed cases. Commissioner for Health, Dr Patrick Okundia, who disclosed this to journalists in Benin City, also announced the discharge of one more COVID-19 patient, who has tested negative twice for the virus and cleared from the state’s isolation centres. According to him, the new discharge brings the number of patients successfully managed and discharged from the state’s isolation facilities to 13. Okundia, however, reassured that the remaining cas...
Ogun PDP gets new executive committee
File Photo The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, deepened on Friday, as the faction loyal to Senator Buruji Kashamu, inaugurated its new state executive members to steer the affairs of the party for the next four years. The oaths of office which was done in batches of 15 persons were administered by a lawyer and notary public, Victor Owokoya and Oluwatoyin Omomehin, respectively. The inauguration, ceremony which took place at the State Party Secretariat in Abeokuta, also saw the new exco members getting cars from the Omo-Ilu Foundation, courtesy Senator Buruji Kashamu. Ogun PDP had been enmeshed in a battle of supremacy between the loyalists of Kashamu and party faithful loyal to a former House of Representatives member, Oladipupo Adebutu. Speaking with newsm...
Kogi begins payment of April salary
The Kogi State Government has began the payment of April salaries to civil servants. In spite of the agreement to pay 80% salaries to workers, those in the grade levels of 1-6, were paid in full, while pensioners who retired before harmonization also got their pensions in full. Similarly, all political appointees and the legislators in the state were all paid 80% as salaries in line with the slash in salaries paid in April. The salary payment was confirmed by the Kogi State Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiwaju Idris Asiru, who assured that the commitment to workers by the present administration would not be taken for granted. According to the Commissioner, the covid 19 pandemic has opened up new thinking and government has decided to remodel and equip the Special...
Nigeria extends ban on all flights by another two weeks
The Presidential Task Force on the control of the pandemic has announced a two-week extension of the ban of all flights in Nigeria which is due to expire on Thursday. Chairman of the task force and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, said at its briefing in Abuja on Wednesday. He said: “Tomorrow (Thursday) marks the last day for the enforcement of the closure of Nigeria’s airspace to flights. We have assessed the situation in the aviation industry and have come to the conclusion that given the facts available to us and based on the advice of experts, the ban on all flights will be extended for an additional four weeks.” The Task Force has also alerted that the outcomes of the modeling it has adopted suggest that dangers lie ahead for the country. He said...
