Makinde Didn’t Contract Virus at Ibadan PDP Rally, Says Media Aide

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

The Oyo State Government has disputed the insinuations in some quarters that the State Governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde, who on Monday tested positive to Covid-19, contracted the disease at a zonal rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was recently held in Ibadan, the state capital.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, said that “the issue of the governor being said to have contacted the Covid-19 at the March 18 PDP Southwest Zonal Unification Rally doesn’t come to play, because there was no known incident of the virus in Oyo State at that time. Also, the governor didn’t have any symptom(s) as of that time.

“At the time that the rally was held, there was no known case of the Covid-19 and after the rally, Governor Makinde actually put out a message to indicate that if he had got a hint of the existence of the virus in the state an hour to the rally, he would have cancelled the event. He took responsibility for holding the rally.

“So, we can’t afford to politicise the issue of Covid-19. It is beyond politics.”

Adisa noted that the only plausible case of exposure that Makinde had to COVID-19 was when he attended the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on March 19, 2020, a day after the Ibadan rally,

He added that all the governors who attended that meeting were advised to self-isolate and undergo testing after one of the attendees tested positive to the virus.

“The Nigerian Governors’ Forum had a meeting on March 18 and Governor Makinde joined his colleagues on March 19 for the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting. He had contacts with people that have now tested positive to the virus. So, we should not politicise an issue like this,” he said.

He warned individuals trying to politicise the governor’s case to desist from doing so and look for ways of supporting the ongoing efforts to stop the spread of the virus.