Pretoria - The president of the senate in Nigeria, Ahmad Lawan, has expressed his disappointment that a temporary COVID-19 isolation centre in Gwagwalada was still incomplete.
Lawan visited the site on Wednesday.
He said he had asked the
country’s department of finance to release over R26 million to the Nigerian Centre
for Disease Control (NCDC) to assist with combating the virus.
The first COVID-19 infection was reported in Lagos last week.
“It is
sad that out of the N620 million (over R26 million) earmarked for NCDC, not a
kobo has been released to the centre,” Lawan told journalists.
“We
want to see this temporary site fixed by [Thursday]; we are going to ensure
that the money is released.
“We had ebola, now we have coronavirus, we don’t
know what else would happen, we are not praying for anything. But we should be
prepared and be ready for any eventuality."
He said no investment of public money was too much if it would save the lives of Nigerians.
The site had not yet been electrified and had no generators, he said.
“There are two or three air conditioners that were brought
this morning because yesterday we said we are coming here. This is unacceptable. As leaders we have to do what is right, so if we said we
were not coming, this place wouldn’t have anything.”