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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja and Doris Obinna (Lagos)
The Presidency has distanced itself from a claim making the rounds that the federal government had plans to pay N30,000 to each Nigerian with a Bank Verification Number (BVN).
The amount is purportedly meant to serve as part of palliatives to help Nigerians stay at home as government battles the coronavirus pandemic.
The release was allegedly linked to Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
An online report claimed that federal government had set billions of naira aside to be distributed to about 40 million Nigerians at N30,000 per person, with BVN.
However, in a tweet on his verified Twitter handle @FemAdesina, the Presidential spokesman dissociated himself and the administration from the said claim, describing it as fake news.
“Fake news peddlers have concocted a statement, purportedly issued by me, saying FG will pay N30,000 to each Nigerian with BVN, to help them stock up before an impending national lockdown. Not me. The so-called statement is hereby disclaimed,” Adesina said.
In a related development, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) yesterday confirmed eight new cases of COVID19 in Nigeria, noting that seven of the new cases were recorded in Lagos and one in Benue State.
The confirmation of the new cases were published on the website of the NCDC at 04:00 pm March 28, 2020.
As at the time of filing this report, the NCDC gave breakdown of cases by states as follows: Lagos- 59; FCT- 14; Ogun- 3; Enugu- 2; Ekiti- 1; Oyo- 3; Edo- 2; Bauchi- 2; Osun-1; Rivers-1 and Benue-1.
