COVID-19: Stop politicising fight against Coronavirus’ – Lai Mohammed warns governors

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has appealed to governors in Nigeria to stop playing politics with Coronavirus directives.

The Minister made this known on Friday, while speaking on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme “Good Morning Nigeria”.

Mohammed, while commenting on the arrest and prosecution of Caverton pilots by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, said that the counter directives between some states and the federal government in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus were uncalled for and unnecessary.

He said,” Governors should stop politicizing the fight against Coronavirus.
“The federal government has responsibility to all Nigerians irrespective of the state they reside.
“A situation where the federal government needs exemption for a 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.
“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 contact 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.”