TheCable

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the coronavirus case in Nigeria is as a result of the inadequacies of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Nigeria recorded its first case of the deadly virus after an Italian visited the country.

In a statement on Friday, Kola Ologbodiyan, PDP spokesman, said the current administration has failed to live up to its responsibilities, adding that it took “no concrete steps to hedge our nation against the virus, leading to the current scary situation.”

He said the government has refused to evacuate its citizens in Wuhan, China, and also failed to prevent the disease from spreading to the country.

The main opposition party accused the Buhari government of negligence and “laid back attitude to governance and the welfare of Nigerians leading to the avoidable entrance of the deadly corona virus into our dear country.”

“The PDP notes that a responsive and proactive government would have mobilized effective surveillance and screening measures to ward off the menace, particularly at our entry points, but the incompetent, insensitive and indifferent Buhari administration, was more interested in propaganda and unnecessary showboating with false performance claims,” the statement read.

“The PDP said Nigerians should directly hold the Buhari Presidency responsible should any national calamity arose from COVID-19 in addition to the economic and security challenges its negligence had caused our nation.

“Due to the negligence and incompetence of the Buhari administration, Nigerians can no longer move freely across their country for fear of insurgents, bandits, kidnappers and now corona virus.

“Indeed, the Buhari government is a huge misfortune to our nation. This latest leadership failure further validates widespread calls for it to step aside for more competent hands to manage the affairs of our country.”

The party called on agencies, groups, corporate entities and public-spirited individuals to intensify efforts in curbing the disease before it spreads.

It also called on the federal government to “end its cosmetic attitude and immediately adopt the proactive strategy used by the PDP administration to promptly contain the Ebola Virus disease in 2014.”

Nigeria became the 52nd country to confirm a positive case of the virus on Friday.