There are suspicions that some Nigerian politicians may be rigging the results of the coronavirus test conducted on them to read negative, hiding the authentic result which may be positive. Yet, these politicians spend public funds in secret on medications to eliminate the virus. This has, particularly, been suspected of most executives, from the presidency to state governors, whose results have been publicly declared negative but are still keeping themselves in self-isolation; and conducting further tests. There are concerns that if the result of any individual reads negative, it implies zero-infection of coronavirus, the individual is then free to live normal life and perform his duties.
Some governors have tweeted and celebrated that the result of their coronavirus test is negative, yet, they confined themselves to self-isolation.
In the Nigerian presidency, there is lingering controversy whether the president has been flown overseas for treatment after the State House had said the result of coronavirus test on him is negative while the Chief of Staff to the president result read positive.
However, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, on Friday declared he tested positive of coronavirus but in Nigeria, political leaders are feared to rig the result.
A renowned Comrade in Lagos articulated: “Many on social media underestimates our politicians, writing they can’t rig their COVID-19 test results, only time will tell.”
This Nigerian stakeholder portrayed that while the politicians can hide the symptoms, the consequences of the virus does not hide in the long run.
A governor was said to have rejected the result of coronavirus test conducted on him which read positive, directing that fresh result be conducted. Citizens in the state were of the view that the governor may have forgotten to rig the result of the test, and has become vigilant on the result of the repeated test he has ordered.
National Daily investigation revealed that those who cannot rig the result of their coronavirus tests, may have gone into hiding.
Findings from National Daily investigations also showed that both those who rig the result of their coronavirus tests and those who went into hiding, have been taking secret medical treatments to clear the virus from their systems. Those who returned from overseas recently and went into hiding also take more precautionary measures beyond what the Nigerian government has directed. They have already seen the devastating consequences of coronavirus infection in their respective host countries before returning to Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday raised alarm that the federal government has 4,370 people of interest that are being traced. It was earlier indicated that some persons who returned to the country recently from Europe and America did not give their genuine contact details at the airport on arrival, thus, it has been difficult for the authorities to contact them for tracking.
The Information Minister had appealed: “We urge those who have had contact with suspected cases to immediately report to the authorities. We urge Nigerians to support the authorities in this regard. We are on the verge of reaching the level of community spread.
“We must stop this immediately or we will record exponential cases in the days ahead. There is no better way to say this.”
It would appear that the actual coronavirus cases are under reported since the incident has not been properly tracked. This makes the risks of spread very high. Those who rely on self-help may not be as active as the government, particularly, state governments. Thus, the immune citizens at the moment, must as strictly as possible, restrict their movements. Some of those relying on secret therapy still fear the coronavirus infection may be out of control and cause epidemic outbreak in the country.
Meanwhile, investigations continue, and National Daily will bring you update in subsequent reports.