KOGI STATE GOVERNMENT PRESS STATEMENT
SATURDAY 2ND MAY, 2020.
The attention of the Kogi State Government has been drawn to a misinformation doing the round that Government allegedly spent 7 billion naira to put in place an Isolation Center at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja that was damaged by storm a few days ago.
The desperate rumor and falsehood peddlers even went further to attribute the statement to the Executive Governor of the State.
We would have ignored the falsehood but for the concern of friends of the State who want us to set the record straight to erase the erroneous impression.
The Isolation Centre at the Federal Medical Center was built for Lassa Fever for the institution by the State Government. The Federal Medical Center approached the State Government to help them put in place an Isolation Centre where Lassa Fever patients could be kept before their transfer to Management Centres.
It was never meant for COVID-19 and it is unfortunate that some falsehood merchants are peddling ridiculous figures around as the cost of the centre. Can the rumor peddlers produce the contract papers or even the evidence of the Governor’s statement to that effect?
It is perplexing that some people could fall for such cheap falsehood. China, the epicenter of the Virus didn’t even spend that much to construct an Isolation Center. Not even Lagos , that is the epicenter of COVID-19 in Nigeria has spent such amount on Isolation Centres. Kogi doesn’t have such resources and even if we do, they shall be expended on infrastructure and economic expansion program that have been the hallmarks of the Governor Yahaya Bello administration.
The State Government is committed to the health perspective of COVID-19 instead of the commercial angle.
We call on those sharing the falsehood to reevaluate their rationality and hearken to the need for all men and women of goodwill to come together at this critical time to defeat the virus.
The State Government has recalled the Contractor to come and fix the damaged IsolationCentre. Storm destroys permanent structures. So it shouldnt be strange if a temporary Isolation Centre is affected by storm.
We expect such sponsored attacks but we never thought they and their sponsors could be so unintelligent.
Our Isolation Centres for COVID-19 are in Fareec Clinic, Lokoja; Confluence Diagnostic Centre, Lokoja and a Clinic donated to us in Ankpa. We are prepared for any eventuality. We know those behind the false spins but their cheap blackmail wont force us to declare we have what we dont have.
Kingsley Fanwo
Hon. Commissioner for Information and Communication