Uncertainty of Chinese doctors, amounts to betrayal of public trust – PDP to APC

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, says the APC-led administration’s inability to account for the whereabouts of the Chinese medical team brought into Nigeria, amounts to a direct betrayal of public trust.

The main opposition party expressed concern that the APC-led Federal Government is being economical with the truth, while its officials are playing politics with the lives of Nigerian citizens and health safety of the nation.

The Party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, noted that the situation has heightened fears of conspiracies by certain unpatriotic interests in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to compromise the health architecture of the nation and expose its citizens to danger.

The party, therefore, gave the APC a 48-hour ultimatum to declare the whereabouts of the Chinese medical team who purportedly came to assist in the fight against the spread of COVID-19.

The statement explained that its position is based on the alarming declaration by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire that he cannot account for the whereabouts of the Chinese team, who were brought into the country from the epicenter of the pandemic, despite repeated warnings and disapprovals by Nigeria’s medical experts and professional bodies.

The PDP said “More so, the minister’s statement had heightened apprehensions in the public space that the Chinese team, whose identity and activities have been shrouded in secrecy, might have been brought in by a certain cabal for another purpose outside the general public good.”

The PDP recalled how officials of the APC-led administration had strongly defended the invitation of the Chinese team and offered them full state protocol upon arrival, only to turn around to disclaim the supposed experts, deny involvement with them and even forbid Nigerians from inquiring about their whereabouts.

The party described as suspicious and weird the notion that the minister of health, who had repeatedly assured that the Chinese were brought to render medical services and training, went personally to receive them at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on April 8, 2020, in a publicized event, can no longer account for the team.

The party said Nigerians can recall how the Federal Government had failed to respond to demands by our party and other well-meaning Nigerians for the particulars of the members of the team, their medical status, scope of operation, detailed itinerary within our country as well as the safety of the equipment they brought into the nation.

The party also expressed worry over reports of escalation of the scourge in certain countries reportedly after the arrival of Chinese medical personnel in those countries and insisted that the APC administration be held responsible should there be any sudden upsurge in COVID-19 infection and deaths in the country, with the arrival of the said Chinese medical team.

The party invited Nigerians to take note of the nation’s COVID-19 data, stressing that upon the arrival of the Chinese team in April, it stood at 254 confirmed cases with 44 successfully treated by the doctors and 6 deaths, which reportedly had other underlining ailments.

It noted that today, the data stands at no less than 5,450 cases and 171 deaths, saying that the party insists that the PTF on COVID-19 should immediately come out with the truth and provide explanations on the whereabouts of the team in the next 48 hours to douse the tension in the country.

The PDP urged Nigerians to remain vigilant while intensifying personal and public health safety strategies at this critical time.