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Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Anambra State government has disassociated itself from the fundraising being organized by the senator representing Anambra South senatorial zone in the National Assembly, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, to battle COVID-19.
In a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba, the state government said that it was not aware of the arrangement by the lawmaker as he never consulted it.
The statement partly read: “Since the launch last week of the Anambra State COVID-19 account in the determination to fight the spread of the coronavirus in the state, a lot of people from the state and beyond have been calling officials of the state government to complain that they confuse it with the funds drive by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah in the name of mobilization of resources from wealthy indigenes to launch a campaign against the highly contagious disease.
“Until these individuals and organizations began to complain about the confusion they face while seeking to contribute funds to the Anambra people, the state government was not aware of the funds drive by Senator Ubah.
“In other words, the state government is not part of Senator Ubah’s funds drive. Our people should, therefore, not confuse the two. Ubah did not consult us before he started his solo enterprise, nor has he, to this moment, sought to work with the state government. The state government does not sanction his activities.
“Successful entrepreneurs like Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr Herbert Wigwe, Chief and Mrs Alakija, Dr Mike Adenuga and Mr Tony Elumelu, who are not indebted to the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), have contributed significantly to the campaign against the coronavirus, and they have at every point worked in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Government and the Lagos State government. They are not executing hidden agenda.
“Here in Anambra State, such eminently patriotic individuals as Dr Ernest Obiejesi, Chief Allen Onyema and Dr Clement Nwogbo have contributed handsomely to the Anambra State government’s effort to check the spread of the highly infectious scourge in our state.
“They recognise that it is immoral to play politics with the lives of millions of our people. It is, in fact, unconscionable and a mortal sin to politicize the current fight against COVID-19.
“Those recognized by the state government as genuinely contributing to the campaign against the viral outbreak are the Federal Government, individuals and organizations working with the state to prevent the plague from entrying our place and mitigate it if it should eventually find its way into our state. Our people need to be guided accordingly”, the statement added.
While thanking those who have contributed to the fight against COVID-19, Adinuba said that the state government was working hard to ensure that the dreaded disease is promptly contained in the state.
