By Chris Udochukwu
Abuja (Precise Post) – Governor Yahaya Bello may have been vindicated as all team members that made up the Kogi State Contingent to the 2021 National Sports Festival (NSF) have tested negative to the COVID-19 virus after series of tests conducted by the medical team.
The contingents, who were subjected to rigourous test by the team from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) were all declared negative, a situation which seemingly confirms Gov. Yahaya Bello’s insistent stance that there is no COVID-19 in Kogi state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kogi state has had series of faceoffs with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
While the NCDC insisted that there were possible cases of COVID-19 in the state, Gov. Bello held that the state was free from the virus.
After the tests which is a pre-requisite for all athletes and officials to participate in the games, all 41 athletes and 35 officials from Kogi tested negative.
The Kogi state contingent received their COVID-19 test results on Sunday while others states await their own results.
Recall that Kogi State is the only state in Nigeria that did not institute the universal mask wearing mandate, especially after the state Gov. Yahaya Bello was caught on tape saying ‘’we ain’t got no COVID”.
Kogi state neither declared a lockdown nor shut down its economy, as Gov. Bello held that he would not sanction any directive that will bring about untold hardship to is people.
So far, Kogi has only 5 recorded cases of COVID 19 and zero deaths, a position which the NCDC insists is occasioned by lack of adequate testing in the state.
However, the state counters the position of the NCDC, stressing that even when officials of the Centre visited the state for four weeks, it found nothing.
Speaking on this development, the Kogi State Director of Sports, Mr Onipe Halli said the Covid-19 text rest has further vindicated.
