COVID-19: PDP charges Buhari to speak out on status of Aso Rock Villa

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to speak out on the coronavirus status of the Presidential Villa.

The party, in a statement by its national spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan said Buhari should immediately address the nation on the matter to douse widespread public anxieties.

The party’s demand is predicated on public apprehensions of health safety issues in the villa following reports that President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, had tested positive to the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

The PDP noted that though President Buhari was reported to have tested negative to the virus, it was yet imperative that he doused public tension by addressing a distressed nation on the status of the Villa, especially given that other officials, like Abba Kyari, had travelled to high-risk countries in the course of their duties.

The party further said that an address on the situation in the Presidential Villa would further douse public concerns about the status of certain key officials, who have not been visible in the last few days.

The party stressed that Nigerians, no matter how highly placed, should strictly adhere to directives by relevant agencies of government on health safety measures, particularly as they relate to isolation of persons returning from foreign trips.

The PDP urged the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and other relevant agencies to adopt stringent measures to isolate and monitor persons coming into the country as well as track and equally isolate those who had made contact with infected persons.

“In this regard, the NCDC should move into the Presidential villa and immediately track and isolate all those who had made contact with President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, so as to check further spread of COVID-19 in our country” the party said.

It, therefore, called on Nigerians to remain vigilant and observe all health safety directives, including social distances, self-isolation, personal hygiene and prompt report for medical assistance in the case of any symptoms.

The PDP expressed optimism that with a concerted effort by all Nigerians, “our nation will overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.”