Adewole Adebayo, Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders against postponing the 2027 general election over the Ebola outbreak.
Speaking on Sunday at a dinner organised by the SDP presidential campaign council in Abuja, Adebayo said one confirmed Ebola case was enough to shut down public spaces.
New Telegraph had earlier reported that on Sunday, Jide Idris, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), said the agency was investigating a suspected case of Ebola virus disease in Rivers State, following a confirmation of an earlier case involving a 42-year-old woman in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Idris said the Rivers State case had not yet been confirmed, adding that the centre had identified 53 primary contacts and was monitoring people who might have been exposed to the confirmed case.
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Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not announced any change to the 2027 election timetable because of the disease, Adebayo said Nigeria could protect public health without disrupting the electoral process.
“Ebola is not the biggest public health crisis we have in Nigeria.
“It is just that whatever the APC government discusses or presides over, there’s always deception, obfuscation, and opportunism involved.
“One single incident of Ebola is not enough to talk about an epidemic. Secondly, we have dealt with Ebola in Nigeria before during the time of Goodluck Jonathan, with Dr (Onyebuchi) Chukwu as Minister of Health.
“Everybody in Nigeria had a transparent understanding of Ebola. The person who brought it to Nigeria, Patrick Sawyer, from Liberia, the lead consultant physician who treated him then was Dr (Stella) Adadevoh. Everything about it was transparent. But this particular one is shrouded in mystery.
“So, we cannot cancel campaigns, rallies, or shift an important election like the upcoming 2027 poll. The greatest gift anyone can give to support the health of Nigerians is to go to the poll to vote and kick out the APC.”