Adebayo accuses Nigerian government of withholding Ebola information
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
Adewole Adebayo, presidential candidate for Nigeria’s Social Democratic Party, accused the government of a lack of transparency over the Ebola health emergency. He said poverty remains the country’s main public health crisis and urged the authorities to communicate clearly rather than consider postponing elections, reports Leadership.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, has accused the federal government of withholding information about the Ebola health situation. He believes poverty remains Nigeria’s biggest public health crisis. He spoke on Sunday evening at a dinner with journalists, according to Nigerian outlet Leadership.
Adewole Adebayo contrasted the current response with the handling of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, when the authorities shared information about the first case, which came from Liberia, and the doctors who treated patients. The candidate said the lack of transparency fuels fear and speculation. He also rejected the idea of postponing elections because of the health situation and called for protocols to be applied rather than national life being interrupted.
The SDP candidate also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s 90-day plan to reduce the cost of living, calling it a political timetable. He accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of undermining democracy by targeting the SDP headquarters and seeking to prevent its conventions.
The statements come after Nigeria introduced new Ebola control measures: the government ordered strict enforcement at borders on 23 October, then requested on 24 October that any non-compliance be reported. These border checks against Ebola aim to limit the risk of the disease spreading.
