Senate President Ahmad Lawan has berated Osagie Ehanire,
minister of health, and Olorunimbe Mamora, minister of state for health, over
their absence at a summit on COVID-19.
Mahmuda Mamman, permanent secretary of the ministry of
health, was also a no-show at the summit which took place in Abuja on Monday.
While delivering his speech at the summit, Lawan said at
least one top official of the ministry ought to have been present.
“Before I begin my remarks, is the permanent secretary
ministry of health here? Well, I asked that question because the two ministers
of health are not here,” he said.
“The minister of
health, the minister of state, and the permanent secretary are not here. I
believe this is not good.
“He (Ehanire) just left but somebody should have replaced
him. Because everything we do here, the federal ministry of health is supposed
to be here to garner all the resources that will come out of this.
“The PSC is simply an interventionist outfit. And as
politicians and political leaders, we are supposed to be very serious and
committed about the health of our people.”
COVID PANDEMIC NOT
OVER
Lawan said the emergence of Omicron, a COVID-19 variant of
concern, is an indication that the pandemic is not yet over.
Nigeria recorded three cases of the Omicron variant last
week.
The senate president said there is a need for a “continuous
multi-sectoral” approach to establish a sustainable bio-security framework for
Nigeria.
“The emergence of the
Omicron variant of the virus points to the fact that the pandemic is yet to be
over, hence, we should not rest our oars in fighting the pandemic,” he said.
“However, our recent experience has also shown that outbreak
of diseases affects not only the health sector but also the social – economic
sector of the nation. To this end, there is a need for a continuous
multisectoral approach that integrates multiple work plans and collaboration to
establish a sustainable bio security framework for Nigeria.
“As we are working towards ending the pandemic and building
back a better Nigeria, an all inclusive approach which focuses on addressing
issues relating to the economy, health, housing, social security,
infrastructure, etc. should be employed.”
The theme of the COVID-19 summit was ‘Pushing Through the
Last Mile to End the Pandemic and Build Back Better’.
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