Vehicles for lawmakers purchased before COVID-19 outbreak —Nasarawa Govt

The Nasarawa State Government said on Monday the 24 vehicles purchased for members of the state House of Assembly were ordered before the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.

The Director General, Strategic Communication and Press Affairs to the state governor, Yakubu Lamai, who disclosed this in a statement in Lafia, said the vehicles were purchased in accordance with extant laws.

He urged the public to disregard insinuations that the state has no single ventilator but opted to purchase vehicles worth N500million for the state lawmakers.

Lamai said the state government had ordered for the ventilators and was awaiting delivery.

He also described the report on the lack of a ventilator in Nasarawa as false and misleading.

He said: “The ventilators have been ordered and we are expecting them anytime soon as confirmed by the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Dogo Shammah.

“Nigeria recorded its first case of coronavirus on the 27th February, 2020, in Lagos and while many other states were still grappling with what to do.

“Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule instinctively mandated staff of the Ministry of Health to immediately transport and escort 832 students on Exchange Programme from 18 participating states schooling in Government College, Keffi, and Government Girls College, Wamba, back to their respective states.

“Before COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, Nasarawa State became one of the earliest states in Nigeria to develop an actual case Management Protocol to handle symptoms of COVID- 19 at Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) in Lafia.”

He, therefore, urged the people of the state to disregard the speculation that the state government purchased brand new Toyota vehicles worth N500million for the state lawmakers.

READ ALSO: How suspected Covid-19 case being transported to Osun died during interrogation by police

After news of the purchase of the Toyota Hilux vehicles for the lawmakers hit the town, the health workers in the state said they would embark on an indefinite strike over non-payment of their March salary.

They argued that the funds spent on the purchase of the vehicles should have been channeled towards more profitable projects.

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