NCDC to states: No benefits attached to reporting more or less COVID-19 cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says reporting more or less COVID-19 cases does not attract support from the federal government to states.

There have been unconfirmed reports that some states distort the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in order to attract financial support form the federal government.

But speaking at the daily press briefing of the presidential task force on COVID-19 on Tuesday, Chikwe Ihekweazu, NCDC DG, said there are no benefits.

“Whether you report more or less, there is no direct relationship between the number of cases and how much support you get,” he said.

“So, I don’t see the benefit of either reporting more or reporting less.”

Sani Aliyu, national coordinator of the PTF, said the federal government cannot continue to drive initiatives for COVID-19, appealing to states to take responsibility in ensuring the well-being of their people.

“We encourage states to come up with their own state specific initiatives,” Aliyu said.

“This pandemic is going to be with us for a little while longer and it cannot continue to be driven primarily from the federal level.

“We have to ensure that the state government starts taking ownership. Our primary responsibility is to provide guidance to the states and make sure that those decisions that we have taken at the federal level are being implemented in one way or the other by the state government.

“The key responsibility of any government is to ensure the health and well being of their people and I am sure that the state governors are doing the same as well.”