COVID-19 Hits Aso Villa as Buhari’s ADC, Presidential Spokesman, Others Test Positive
- A number of presidential aides and top officials of government have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19
- Buhari’s media aide, garba Shehu, confirmed that he tested positive for coronavirus and was in self-isolation
- The presidential spokesman, however, said he could not confirm if other government officials or aides had tested positive for the virus or not
A report by Premium Times indicates that members of President Muhammadu Buhari's team have contracted the deadly COVID-19.
According to the report, those affected include Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant on media and publicity, Aliyu Musa, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) and Yusuf Dodo, the President’s Aide-de-camp (ADC).
Source: Facebook
It was gathered that Nigeria's minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, is also down with the deadly virus.
Shehu on Saturday, December 25, confirmed he was “afflicted by the mild variant of the COVID-19, however, he can't speak on cases of other government officials.
PAY ATTENTION: Subscribe to Digital Talk newsletter to receive must-know business stories and succeed BIG!
He was quoted as saying:
“What is true is that I know that I’m self-isolating and taking my med*cation, but I know of no other case.”
The infected officials including were said to have been taken out of the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, December 22, when the result of their tests came back positive.
Contrary to Premium Time's report, The Punch stated the minister of information denied contracting COVID-19.
Mohammed wondered how he could be in isolation and still be allowed to attend important events at the Presidential Villa.
According to him, he attended the Federal Executive Council meeting, the extraordinary FEC meeting as well as the inauguration of the new minister of state for works and housing, Muazu Sambo.
NCDC announces 49 Omicron COVID-19 cases in Nigeria
In a previous report by Legit.ng, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said Nigeria has recorded a total of 49 cases of the Omicron COVID variant as of Tuesday, December 21.
The agency disclosed this during a media briefing on Friday, December 24. According to the agency, 13,758 sequences had been uploaded on GISAID, a global epidemic database, as of Monday, December 20.
The index case of Omicron was detected in South Africa and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had subsequently designated Omicron as a “variant of concern”, calling on global leaders to take action to contain its spread.
COVID-19: Lagos decries lack of Modena vaccine as FG destroys 1 million doses of AstraZeneca
In a related development, the federal government on Wednesday, December 22, destroyed about 1,066,242 doses of expired Oxford-Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccines.
The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) executive director, Faisal Shuaib, said this as he addressed reporters before the vaccines were destroyed at a dumpsite in Abuja.
Shuaib said the expired vaccines were withdrawn from some states in the country.
Source: Legit.ng
