FACT CHECK: Lawmaker says COVID no longer in Nigeria. Is this true?

On Thursday, Olufemi Adebanjo, a member of the house of representatives, said there are no more cases of COVID-19 in the country. 

Adebanjo, the lawmaker representing Alimosho federal constituency in Lagos, was speaking on the floor of the house.

He said there have not been cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria and overseas within the past two months, and as such, the wearing of face masks in the chamber should be stopped.

“I want to inform the national assembly, especially the house of representatives, concerning the masking of our faces coming to the chamber,” the lawmaker who was not wearing a face mask had said.

“For the past two months, I have not heard of any case of COVID in Nigeria or abroad. The masking has been very painful and the earlier the better we relax the rule that compulsorily asks honourable members to wear the mask. If you look around you can see how many people are wearing the mask.

“It affects our respiratory system and our lungs. So there is no more COVID-19 in Nigeria, there is no more COVID-19 abroad.”

BUT HOW TRUE IS THIS CLAIM?

To answer this, we will take a look at data provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in the last two months.

In the first week of January, 4,862 COVID cases were recorded in Nigeria; in week two, 2,617 cases were recorded; in week three, 1,258 cases, and in week four, 836 cases.

In the first week of February, there were 698 COVID cases; in week two, 289 cases; week three, 277 cases; and week four, 232 cases.

A total of 9,573 cases and 1,496 cases of COVID-19 were reported in January and February respectively.

So far in March, there have been 334 cases of COVID-19 reported in the country.

Also, according to data by the World Health Organisation (WHO), countries around the world have continued to record cases of COVID-19.

VERDICT

The claim that COVID is no longer in existence in Nigeria and abroad is false. Cases are still being reported daily, therefore, COVID-19 safety protocol should still be adhered to.