Under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Governors of the 36 States of the federation have disclosed plan to review the 2020 budgets in their various States.
In a communique issued at the end of their seventh COVID-19 Teleconference meeting, the NGF Chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, said the Secretariat of the forum would relay to State governments technical assistance that would establish common macroeconomic ideas that will help the States’ revised budgets for 2020 preparation.
According to the chairman, the decision, which was in response to the fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on States, was taken after the forum received update from the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, who chairs the Committee that interacts with development partners.
Governors expressed worry over the continued movement of people across States despite the enforced inter-State lockdowns across States. They promised to partner with the Nigeria Police Force to provide increased security, as well as the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and local government area (LGA) Chairmen in the States to strengthen security surveillance along State boarders.
Also promising to engage with their health workers to provide other incentives, including insurance cover or allowances as may be expected in the light of increasing cases of infections among health workers.
This was announced after the forum received a presentation from Dr. Francis Adedayo Faduyile, President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Sam Ohuabunwa, President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and Comrade Abdulrafiu Adeniji, President, National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM).
Assuring the associations, the governors pledged their commitment to ensure that health workers who were in the frontlines of the epidemic are well catered for in the areas of welfare and safety. They also expressed commitment to ensuring that personal protective equipment (PPE) are available in all general hospitals and health facilities.
As Members of the forum disclosed,they are collaborating with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to provide training to health workers including their capacity to use telemedicine on infectious disease control and prevention and the use of PPE to mitigate the spread of the virus to health workers.
The Chairman also briefed the forum on coordination efforts with the federal government, multilateral and bilateral partners, and the private sector through the Coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID).
Governors expressed gratitude to the private sector coalition for the provision of palliatives to households and testing facilities to help curtail the spread of the coronavirus. They commended Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, who joined in the teleconference, for his full involvement in the fight against COVID-19 in the country. He further assured, in their interactive session, logistical support to ensure that palliatives get to the people in need of them.
