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The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has given the All progressive Congress, APC-led Federal Government a 48-hour ultimatum to reveal the whereabouts of the Chinese medical team it purportedly brought to assist in the fight against the spread of the dreaded coronavirus pandemic in the country.
The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, had, at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja on Thursday, said he does not know the whereabouts of the Chinese doctors and technicians who came into the country reportedly on the invitation of the government
This came one month after the controversial arrival of the Chinese medical team which at the time generated strong criticisms from many, including the PDP, but was dispelled by the government, stressing that they were in the country to help.
But when asked where the Chinese expatriates were, Ehanire stated: “I want to explain first of all that I think not all of them were doctors and I heard that some of them are technicians, but they are staff of CCECC, the Ministry of health is not their host, so we can’t always explain what happened to them or where they are.
“There seems to be a lot of interests in these doctors but they are the staff of a company and I think they are on the company visa. So I will be very happy if you don’t ask me about where they are because they are not really our guests in that sense. But we have been able to learn some things from them by interacting with them from their experience in their country, we shared ideas about what they did in their country in managing Covid -19.”
Reacting, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Saturday via the verified handle of the party, said the minister’s statement had heightened public apprehension that “the Chinese team whose identity and activities have been shrouded in secrecy, might have been brought in by a certain cabal for another purpose outside the general public good”.
Ologbondiyan described Ehanire’s statement as “suspicious, creepy and weird”, noting that the minister had repeatedly assured that the Chinese were brought to render medical services and trainings; and even went personally to receive them at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on April 8, 2020; in an elaborately publicized event, can no longer account for the team.
He further accused the APC-led Federal Government of being economical with the truth, with its officials playing politics with the lives of the citizens and health safety of the nation, adding that inability to account for the Chinese team amounts to direct betrayal of public trust.
The national publicity secretary of the PDP therefore insisted that the PTF on COVID-19 should immediately come out with the truth and provide explanations on the whereabouts of the team in the next 48 hours so as to douse the tension in the country.
His statement reads: “The @OfficialPDPNig has given the @OfficialAPCNg-led Federal Government a 48-hour ultimatum to declare the whereabouts of the Chinese medical team it brought in purportedly to assist in the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in our country.
“@OfficialPDPNig’s position is predicated on the alarming declaration by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, that he cannot account for the whereabouts of the Chinese team, who were brought into our country from the epicenter of the pandemic, despite repeated warnings and disapprovals by our medical experts and professional bodies.
“More so, the minister’s statement had heightened apprehensions in the public space that the Chinese team, whose identity and activities have been shrouded in secrecy, might have been brought in by a certain cabal for another purpose outside the general public good.
“The party described as suspicious, creepy and weird that the minister of health, who had repeatedly assured that the Chinese were brought to render medical services and trainings; and even went personally to receive them at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on April 8, 2020; in an elaborately publicized event, can no longer account for the team.
“The @OfficialPDPNig recalls how officials of the @OfficialAPCNg-led administration had vehemently defended the invitation of the Chinese team and offered them full state protocol upon arrival, only to now turn around to disclaim the supposed experts, deny involvement with them and even forbid Nigerians from enquiring about their whereabouts.
“Our party is worried that the @OfficialAPCNg-led Federal Government is being economical with the truth, with its officials playing politics with the lives of our citizens and health safety of our nation.
“The @OfficialPDPNig holds that government’s inability to account for the Chinese team amounts to direct betrayal of public trust, which has heightened fears of conspiracies by certain unpatriotic interests in the @OfficialAPCNg and its administration to compromise the health architecture of our nation and expose our citizens to danger.
“Nigerians can recall how the Federal Government had failed to respond to demands by our party and other well-meaning Nigerians for the particulars of the members of the team, their medical status, scope of operation, detailed itinerary within our country as well as the safety of the equipment they brought into our nation.
“Our party had expressed worry over scary reports of escalation of the scourge in certain countries reportedly after the arrival of Chinese medical personnel in those countries and insisted that the @OfficialAPCNg administration should be held responsible should there be any sudden upsurge in COVID-19 infection and deaths in our country, with the arrival of the said Chinese medical team.
“We invite Nigerians to note that whereas our nation’s COVID-19 data, upon the arrival of the Chinese team in April, stood at 254 confirmed cases with 44 successfully treated by our doctors and 6 deaths, which reportedly had other underlining ailments.
“Today, the data stands at no less than 5,450 cases and 171 deaths.
“Our party therefore insists that the PTF on COVID-19 should immediately come out with the truth and provide explanations on the whereabouts of the team in the next 48 hours so as to douse the tension in the country.”
