The chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari’s, Mr. Abba Kyari, has raised an urgent public health alarm to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, informing him of the arrogance of some Nigerian lawmakers towards health officials.
Mr. Abba Kyari, in a letter to Femi Gbajabiamila on March 21, said the minister of health had drawn his attention to repeated violation of screening procedure at the nation’s airports.
“As you are aware, these airport screenings are our primary line of defence and refusal by any citizen to subject to these tests is a threat to our nation,” the chief of staff wrote.
The letter surfaced on social media this morning, although it was unclear who first posted it.
Mr. Abba Kyari admonished Mr Gbajabiamila to immediately rein in the excesses of federal lawmakers and ask all those who have refused to submit to medical test for COVID-19 to report themselves at the screening centers across the country.
Mr Gbajabiamila spokeperson, Mr Lanre Lasisi, did not return calls seeking comments about the letter.
It was unclear why the chief of staff took on the role of writing to the head of the lower chamber of parliament. But the action appeared in line with the president’s repeated delegation of authority to Mr Kyari, to whom he had asked all his staff members, including Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, to always report official matters directly.
President Buhari has not made a televised address to the country’s 200 million population since the first case of COVID-19 was discovered on February 27, fueling speculation about the current state of his health.
Nigeria currently has 36 cases of COVID-19 infections, with health officials warning citizens to maintain social distancing and isolate themselves if they had recently visited places with high number of infections.
