The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC) has cautioned former Vice President Atiku Abubakar against ridiculing President Bola Tinubu over the Ebola outbreak, saying linking the president’s name to the virus risks turning a serious public health concern into political mockery.
The council was reacting to a statement credited to Mr Abubakar on the latest public health issue, which it said opened with a title linking the President’s first name to Ebola and questioning how the Presidential Task Force spent the N10 billion approved for the emergency.
In a statement on Thursday, the spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake, said Mr Abubakar “continues to foul up the political arena, with statement after statement dripping with insult and disrespect to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
“We believe linking and rhyming President Bola Tinubu’s name to Ebola only risks turning a serious health concern into a vehicle to ridicule the President of the Federal Republic,” Mr Alake said.
He said the statement showed “patent ignorance” about the virus and why the traveller from Uganda was not detected on arrival at the Abuja airport.
“For anyone infected with the virus, the incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days, with symptoms typically appearing 8 to 10 days after exposure. An infected person cannot spread or transmit Ebola to others until they actively develop symptoms,” he said.
“This is why it took the infected Nigerian some days before reporting to the hospital, where several tests showed that the person had Ebola.”
On accountability, Mr Alake said the N10 billion approved by the president for the Ebola emergency in June remains untouched, while the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and other surveillance agencies have spent other available resources.
He said the agencies deserve applause for mounting robust surveillance at entry points to avert Ebola spread.
“This surveillance network tipped off the government about the index case and led to contact tracing of the patient’s 44 contacts,” he said.
“A responsible opposition will applaud the Task Force for being responsive. But the Atiku camp always goes for cheap shots at the government.”
Mr Alake also dismissed an allegation that a ministerial briefing was intended to discourage attendance at campaign rallies or voting, describing it as speculative.
“Vice President Atiku cannot make such a serious allegation without verifiable evidence, especially in the thick of electioneering. In any way, the press conference did not raise this issue, except to appeal to the public to comply with the Task Force’s announced protocol.
“We advise Atiku Abubakar and his hirelings to avoid politicising public health issues. A time like this demands that all Nigerians, including the opposition, rally around the health authorities and professionals, communicate responsibly, avoid rumour-mongering, and follow the protocols advised by the Task Force to ensure Ebola does not become a national epidemic,” he said.
On Tuesday, the federal government confirmed a case of Ebola Virus Disease in the FCT, involving a woman who recently arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda.
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The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, who disclosed this, said the patient was admitted to a private hospital in the FCT, where she received treatment for several days before the diagnosis was confirmed.
He added that the woman has been isolated and is currently receiving medical care, while public health authorities have activated emergency response measures to contain the virus, noting that 44 close contacts have been identified.
Nigeria recorded an Ebola outbreak in 2014 after an infected traveller from Liberia arrived in Lagos. The World Health Organisation (WHO) later declared Nigeria free of Ebola transmission on 20 October 2014, after 42 days without a new case.
WHO records show that the 2014 response involved rapid case detection, isolation and extensive contact tracing, with 19 confirmed cases, one probable case and eight deaths.
The latest case in Abuja comes amid an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the disease has spread across several provinces.
