The Kogi State Government has threatened to sue the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Presidential Task Force, PTF on COVID-19 for declaring the state high risk COVID-19 state.
Recall that the PTF on Covid-19 had, on Monday declared Kogi State a high-risk state for refusing to acknowledge the existence of the disease.
The PTF also said that the Kogi government had failed to report testing, lacked isolation centres and therefore warned Nigerians to be wary of visiting the state.
Governor Bello has been very critical about the existence of the disease right from inception. In a recent video which went viral, the governor said the Covid-19 vaccine is a killer drug and vowed never to allow it get to Kogi State.
However, in a swift reaction, Kingsley Fanwo, the Kogi Commissioner for Information and Communication declared the intention of the state government to sue PTF-COVID-19 in Lokoja on Wednesday over what he described as an attempt to de-market the state and inflict the citizens with fear.
The State Government accused PTF-COVID-19 of failing in an earlier effort to import Covid-19 into Kogi and as such, has now resorted into creating panic.
Fanwo said the claim by NCDC and the Task Force was directed at de-marketing the state by scaring investors away and ultimately, crippling Kogi economy.
“We very much believe their intent was to ensure investors are scared from coming to the state. Despite their unreliable figures, Kogi emerged the investment destination of Nigeria in the last quarter of 2020.
“They felt embarrassed and the best way to hit back is to create a picture of health crisis in the state.”
On efforts being made by the state government to fight the disease, Fanwo claimed Kogi was the first to procure thousands of face masks which it distributed free of charge to residents of the state.
He also claimed Kogi State had done more sensitisation on the disease than other states in the country.
“We were the first state to procure face masks in thousands and distribute to all the LGAs. We were the first state to set up a Squadron Team to combat the spread of the pandemic. We set up isolation centres with state-of-the-art equipment.
