ATIKU POLITICISING EBOLA OUTBREAK, ₦10BN EMERGENCY FUND REMAINS UNTOUCHED— APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his comments on the ₦10 billion approved by President Bola Tinubu for Ebola emergency response, accusing him of politicising a public health concern and displaying inadequate understanding of the virus.

The APC Atiku Ebola ₦10bn fund response was contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by the council’s spokesperson, Dele Alake .

THE APC’S ATTACK

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Alake said Atiku’s statement on the Ebola outbreak was disrespectful to the office of the President and risked turning a serious public health issue into an avenue for political ridicule.

“When disrespect becomes the staple of political statements, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar continues to foul up the political arena, with statement after statement dripping with insult and disrespect to the office of the President,” the Council said.

The council said a statement credited to Atiku opened with a title linking President Tinubu’s first name to Ebola and questioning how the Presidential Task Force spent the ₦10 billion approved for the emergency.

“We believe linking and rhyming President Bola Tinubu’s name to Ebola only risks turning a serious health concern into a vehicle to ridicule the President of the Federal Republic,” it said.

THE EBOLA SCIENCE

The council explained that Atiku’s statement showed ignorance about the virus and why the traveller from Uganda was not detected on arrival at the Abuja airport.

It noted that for anyone infected with the virus, the incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days, with symptoms typically appearing 8 to 10 days after exposure, and that an infected person cannot spread Ebola until they develop symptoms.

“This is why it took the infected Nigerian some days before reporting to the hospital, where several tests showed that the person had Ebola,” it said .

THE ₦10BN FUND

On the controversy surrounding the ₦10 billion emergency fund, the APC council maintained that the money approved by Tinubu in June remained untouched.

Alake said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other agencies involved in disease surveillance had been using other available resources to carry out their responsibilities .

He commended the agencies for strengthening surveillance at entry points and taking measures to prevent the spread of Ebola into the country.

According to him, the surveillance system helped alert the authorities to the reported case and facilitated contact tracing involving 44 people who had contact with the patient .

THE RALLY ALLEGATION

The council also dismissed Atiku’s allegation that a ministerial briefing on the Ebola situation was intended to discourage Nigerians from attending political campaign rallies or voting.

Alake described the allegation as speculative, insisting that such a serious claim required verifiable evidence, particularly during an electioneering period.

He maintained that the briefing did not raise any plan to restrict political participation but appealed to Nigerians to comply with the protocols announced by the emergency response task force .

WHY IT MATTERS

The exchange between the APC and Atiku over Ebola is a sign of how deeply politicised Nigeria’s public health emergencies have become.

Ebola is a deadly virus. It killed eight people in Nigeria during the 2014 outbreak, and the country’s response at the time was widely praised. But in the heat of a presidential campaign, even a public health crisis becomes a political battleground.

The APC’s claim that the ₦10 billion remains untouched is a direct challenge to Atiku’s assertion that the funds have been mismanaged. If the money is indeed untouched, it raises questions about why it was approved in the first place—and whether the agencies responding to the outbreak have the resources they need.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the Ebola outbreak remains a live public health concern. The political fight over it is just beginning.