15th April, 2020
A group in Rivers state under the aegis of Rivers Peoples Alliance has condemned plans by Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, to deliver Covid-19 items to the University of Portharcourt Teaching Hospital instead of the Rivers State Government.
Recently, the same agency delivered coronavirus materials directly to the Lagos Government that coordinated the Lagos affairs.
Peeved by this development, the group in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Pius Okechukwu described the action as selective because Rivers is being controlled by an opposition party.
In the statement, the group alleged that”our state government has been in the forefront to ensure that the scourge is contained.
“Now that the Federal Government wants to distribute items it chose to ignore the state government for obvious reasons.
“Coronavirus knows no colour or race, we demand an immediate explanation why Rivers should be treated differently from Lagos.
“When it was the turn of Lagos it was express delivery via Lagos Government but now that it’s the turn of Rivers FG now remembers that it’s an opposition state.
“Adopting selective approach to end a scourge that cannot differentiate between PDP and APC is not good for our democracy.
Adding that NIMASA should retrace its plan to handover materials to another body when there’s a democratically elected Government in Rivers State.