A rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law on Wednesday, April 1st, 2020 rebuked the Anambra State Government for claiming that it spent N1bn on purchasing personal preventive equipment to fight coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In a statement by its Board of Trustees Chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, the group said the claim was a blatant lie.

It said the claim had confirmed the group’s earlier published prediction that the coronavirus pandemic would turn out to be a conduit through which certain people would exploit to acquire wealth for themselves, to the detriment of the people they govern.

The statement read in part,

It is categorically clear that the N1bn claimed by the Obiano-led government to have been spent on procurement of coronavirus prevention equipment was only spent in the moon.

Intersociety had earlier issued a statement warning that coronavirus eruption in Nigeria or any part thereof was likely to become another opportunity for official criminal enrichment and state sadism in the country.

Barely 24 hours after our prediction, a statement credited to the Secretary to the Government of Anambra State, Prof, Solo Chukwulobelu, said about N1bn had been spent by the government of Anambra State in procuring personal protective equipment against coronavirus.

The Anambra State Government went ahead and listed the items as ‘protective clothing (over-all safety clothes), helmets, goggles, facemasks, hand-gloves and other garments/equipment designed to protect against coronavirus.

The group demanded that the state government make out time to show where such equipment were kept in the state or the markets where they were procured to stakeholders.

It added,

Our checks as to whether the procured items had been shared to the citizens showed that nothing like that happened.

It is left for the government of the state to speak credibly and factually on what it has done with respect to coronavirus prevention and its management including those who have benefited and in what manner medically, materially or cash wise.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.