Presidency dismisses Senate calls for Buhari to address Nigerians on COVID-19 as cheap politics

The Presidency on Thursday described as cheap politics calls by senators for President Muhammadu Buhari to address Nigerians on the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement urged Nigerians to unite against COVID-19.

He added that this was not the time to attack the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The statement read: “We also plead with Nigerians not to see this most peculiar of times as one to be politicised or seen as an opportunity to regurgitate grudges against the government or the ruling All Progressives Congress. North, South, East, and West – all Nigerians must unite to fight this plague, irrespective of religious or ideological affiliation.

“In this regard, populist advocacies such as the one accusing the President of ‘complacency’ simply because he has not made a television address by ranking members of our respected parliament are cheap and sensational. These are not the times for populism and cheap politics.”

Shehu also said the Federal Government had put in place palliatives including the reduction of petrol pump price from N145 to N125 per litre to cushion the effect of the pandemic.

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The Senate had on Wednesday called on Buhari to address Nigerians on the coronavirus in the country.

The upper legislative chamber also urged the federal government to shut down all international airports except the Lagos and Abuja airports for easier monitoring of the disease.

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