Member representing Igbo-Eze North/Ndenu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Simon Atigwe has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency over COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement he issued and made available to DAILY POST in Abuja on Tuesday, the lawmaker decried that government’s response to tackling the scourge was poor and abysmal.
He said in view of increase of the disease in Nigeria, President Buhari should declare a state of emergency and do that urgently.
“As a matter of urgency, President Buhari should issue a proclamation of a state of emergency on the pandemic in the country.
“The call by the federal government on Nigerians to prepare for tougher measures to curtail the ongoing spread of the disease is capable of creating panic among the populace, especially the illiterates.
He insisted that the state of emergency was the way to go instead of the use of security agents to trace about 1,300 suspected cases that have been dissolved into the society.
He specifically urged President Buhari to “immediately set up an emergency fund to help the country fight the COVID-19.”
This, he stressed would “further boost several efforts put in place to mitigate the impact of the epidemic on people’s health, their economic lives and that of the country.”
Among measures, the lawmaker canvassed was the provision of standard equipment and facilities at the centres created to cater for coronavirus victims, as well as establishment of isolation centres in all states of the Federation.
