The presidential campaign council of governing All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of politicising the nation’s Ebola response.
The council’s reaction is coming after the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Party (ADC) in the 2027 election questioned the use of a N10 billion emergency allocation and criticised the government’s handling of a confirmed case linked to a traveller from Uganda.
In a statement issued in Abuja, spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake who is also Minister of Solid Minerals Development
said Abubakar’s comments had turned a serious public-health matter into an attempt to ridicule President Bola Tinubu.
Alake was responding to a statement attributed to the former vice president that referenced the President’s first name in connection with Ebola and asked how the Presidential Task Force had spent the approved funds.
“The statement showed patent ignorance about the virus and why the traveller from Uganda was not detected on arrival at the Abuja airport,” Alake said.
Minister Alake said Ebola’s incubation period, between infection and the onset of symptoms – ranges from two to 21 days, with symptoms typically emerging eight to 10 days after exposure.
NewsQuest reports the World Health Organization as saying that people infected with Ebola cannot transmit the virus until they develop symptoms, which helps explain why an infected traveller may pass airport screening and seek hospital care only days later.
According to Alake, the Nigerian patient had reported to a hospital several days after arrival, where repeated tests confirmed Ebola infection.
Funds and surveillance
On accountability, Alake said the N10 billion approved by President Tinubu in June for the Ebola emergency remained unspent.
He said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and other agencies involved in surveillance had instead relied on other available resources.
Alake praised the agencies for maintaining screening and surveillance at points of entry, saying the network identified the index case and enabled contact tracing of 44 people who had contact with the patient.
“A responsible opposition will applaud the Task Force for being responsive. But the Atiku camp always goes for cheap shots at the government,” he added.
Alake also rejected Abubakar’s suggestion that a ministerial briefing on the outbreak was intended to discourage attendance at campaign rallies or voting.
He described the allegation as speculative and said it was unsupported by evidence, adding that the press briefing had only urged the public to comply with protocols announced by the task force.
The Minister called on political leaders, including opposition figures, to avoid turning public-health emergencies into campaign material and to support health authorities in preventing a wider outbreak.
“Nigerians deserve, first of all, protection from the deadly disease,” Alake said.
