SENATE MOVES TO CONTAIN EBOLA, SEEKS EMERGENCY FUNDS, MANDATORY SCREENING AND REVIEW OF 1926 QUARANTINE ACT

The Senate has urged the Federal Government to release emergency funds from the Service-Wide Vote to strengthen disease surveillance and introduce compulsory health screening at all international airports, seaports and designated land borders to curb the spread of Ebola and other epidemic-prone diseases.

The resolution followed deliberations on a motion sponsored by Senator Francis Ade Faduyile (APC-Ondo South) during plenary on Wednesday.

THE MOTION

Faduyile said the reported outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its spread to other countries required immediate preventive measures.

He called for compulsory health declaration forms, temperature checks and symptom screening for all arriving international passengers, irrespective of nationality or country of departure.

The senator also proposed enhanced screening for travellers who had visited or transited affected areas within the preceding 21 days, alongside exit screening during declared public health emergencies .

He urged the Federal Government to equip entry points with trained port health officers, thermal scanners, protective equipment and isolation rooms.

Faduyile further called for the readiness of isolation and treatment centres across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

He also urged the National Assembly to modernise the Quarantine Act of 1926 and ensure adequate funding for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and Port Health Services.

THE DEBATE

Seconding the motion, Senator Ekong Sampson (APC-Akwa Ibom South) described Ebola as a deadly threat that required urgent action, warning that a single case could trigger widespread transmission if not contained.

Senator Adamu Aliero (APC-Kebbi Central) argued that the Senate should not rely solely on the 2027 budget because the outbreak required immediate intervention.

He proposed that emergency funds should be sourced from the Service-Wide Vote to address the outbreak, stressing that waiting for a supplementary budget or the implementation of the 2027 budget could cause unacceptable delays .

AKPABIO’S ALARM

Senate President Godswill Akpabio expressed concern over reports that a traveller who entered Nigeria without adequate screening at the point of arrival.

Akpabio said the incident raised questions about the effectiveness of screening arrangements at the country’s entry points.

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He recalled Nigeria’s experience during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, warning that a failure to detect an infected traveller early could expose many people to infection.

The Senate President called for comprehensive screening of all arriving international passengers, irrespective of their countries of departure, noting that infected persons could travel through third countries .

WHY IT MATTERS

The Senate’s resolution is a proactive step to prevent Ebola from entering Nigeria.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak, which was imported into Lagos by a Liberian-American diplomat, Patrick Sawyer, killed eight people in Nigeria and infected 20 others. The swift response by Nigerian health authorities at the time was widely praised.

But that response depended on detecting the index case. If a traveller enters Nigeria without being screened, the virus could spread undetected.

The Senate’s call for emergency funds and mandatory screening is a recognition that the country cannot afford to wait for the 2027 budget.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the Federal Government has not yet responded to the Senate’s resolution.