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The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has blamed the State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, for the spread of the deadly Ebola virus disease to the state.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media to the State Chairman of the party, Mr. Jerry Needam, declared that the governor’s insensitivity was responsible for the ugly development that claimed the life of a medical doctor, Iyke Enemuo.
The state PDP pointed out that Amaechi and the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Samson Parker, were not proactive in providing facilities that would have prevented the spread of the disease to Rivers.
“The PDP says carelessness and insensitivity on the part of the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Samson Parker, are responsible for the unfortunate spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease to the state, with a confirmed death incident of an innocent doctor, Ike Samuel Elemo, as the first victim.
“The PDP notes that Governor Amaechi’s laxity and his Health Commissioner not been proactive in putting in place necessary facilities and modalities in preventing the Ebola outbreak or tackling it to avoid spread in the event of any reported case is consequently regrettable as the Rivers State situation might be more severe than that of Lagos State, in which case the (Lagos) State Government at least showed some form of seriousness by cooperating with the Federal Government prompt responses.
“The PDP expresses astonishment while reacting to the death of the medical doctor in Port Harcourt, who had contact with an Ebola patient, and whose wife and over 200 persons are reportedly being infected with the Ebola virus in Port Harcourt,” the statement read.
Describing the situation as devastating, the PDP alleged that efforts made by the Federal Government to contain the spread of Ebola to Rivers State were rebuffed by Amaechi.
It added that the governor shunned a meeting presided by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on the prevention of the spread of Ebola to other states, presided over by President Jonathan.
But the All Progressives Congress in the state dismissed PDP’s claim, describing it as being out of tune with the realities on the ground.
State APC Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Fynebone, who spoke in a telephone interview with The PUNCH, accused the state PDP of politicising the Ebola scourge and added that contrary to the position of the opposition party, the governor and the commissioner for Health had been proactive in preventing the spread of the disease.
“It is wrong for the state PDP to make such a statement. I have seen the statement and it is clear that it is not in line with the realities on the ground about the Ebola virus. The state government brought in experts to train medical personnel in Rivers.
“There have been plans to prevent the disease from spreading into the state. Remember that a nurse travelled from Lagos to Enugu with the disease and she was taken back to Lagos, but nobody politicised it in Enugu. It is clear that somebody wants to deliberately politicise Ebola disease in the state,” Fybone said.
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