The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has call for the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 following Nigeria’s exclusion by the World Health Organization (WHO) from the list of nations to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
The WHO-led COVAX global initiative on Saturday failed to shortlist Nigeria for the Pfizer vaccines following the country’s inability to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius.
The Nigerian government had stated that it was expected to receive 100,000 doses through the COVAX initiative, which was set up to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level.
In a press statement, Kola Ologbondiyan, the national publicity secretary of PDP, argued that there was need for the PTF on Covid-19 to pave way for a concerted private sector driven effort in the fight against the pandemic.
Ologbondiyan said it was highly regrettable that a country like Nigeria could not provide simple vaccine storage in a time of pandemic, adding the corruption and incompetence of the APC’s administration had continued to cost the country so much.
He, therefore called on all well-meaning Nigerians in the public health, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and logistic sub-sectors to immediately rally to rescue the nation from the horrible situation.
The national publicity secretary challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to accept the ineffectiveness of his administration and seek help from more capable hands as well as adopt the PDP proactive model in fighting the dreaded Ebola Virus disease, as a sure measure to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says Nigeria’s reported exclusion by the World Health Organization (WTO) from the list of nations to receive COVID-19 vaccines following the inability of the Buhari administration to provide the simple vaccine storage requirement has further vindicated our stand that the APC-led administration is a total failure.
“The party describes as shameful and unpardonable that a nation as important as Nigeria is being excluded from COVID-19 vaccine intervention of the World Health Organization just because the APC administration, in its incompetence and corruption, was not able to provide the minimum standard requirement of vaccine storage at the requisite -70 degrees Celsius, despite the billions of naira it claims had gone into the COVID-19 effort.
“This embarrassing situation confirms our position that the APC administration is completely incapable of carrying out simple governance tasks, which is the reason our nation is in her present social and economic dire straits.
“Only last month, our party alerted the nation and tasked the Buhari administration on its lethargic approach to the issue of COVID-19 vaccine and other therapeutics; a caution which was dismissed by the APC and the Buhari administration.
“Nigerians can now see that the claims of commitment by the APC administration are mere media hypes that add no value beyond announcement of figures of infected persons, deaths, recoveries, discharges and issues of local protocols without decisive effort towards epidemiology, researches, production of equipment, therapeutics and other technical requirements, such as vaccine storage to stave off the pandemic in our country.
“This development has also confirmed our insistence that the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 is a mere circus group of incompetent politicians, and has no capacity to tackle the spread of the pandemic in our country.
“It also validates the widespread call for the dissolution of the PTF.
“It is indeed sad that because of the corruption and incompetence of the APC administration, our dear nation, which was once a clear continental leader and global competitor in all fields, has fallen so low that it cannot provide simple vaccine storage in a time of pandemic.
“Against this ugly backdrop, our party restates our call for immediate dissolution of the PTF on COVID-19 to pave way for a concerted private sector driven effort in the fight against the pandemic, since the Buhari administration has failed the nation.
“Our party urges all well-meaning Nigerians in the public health, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and logistic sub-sectors to immediately rally to rescue our nation from this horrible situation.
“The PDP also calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to accept the ineffectiveness of his administration and seek help from more capable hands as well as adopt the PDP proactive model in fighting the dreaded Ebola Virus disease, as a sure measure to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement read.
