The President of the Senate , Ahmad Lawan, has called on the Federal Government to immediately devise ways of providing relief for poor Nigerians whose daily livelihood will be affected as a result of the restriction on movement due to the COVID – 19 pandemic.
Lawan, according to a statement by his media aide , Ezrel Tabiowo , made the appeal following a meeting between the leadership of the National Assembly and some ministers and heads of government agencies on Wednesday in Abuja .
The Senate President said apart from the lockdown of business activities in the country , a plan must be devised by the Federal Government through the release of funds specifically for the purpose of purchasing food and pharmaceutical supplies for ordinary Nigerians .
He warned that not making provisions ahead of time to address the basic needs of poor Nigerians may likely lead to more problems for the government , and less result in controlling the spread of the disease .
He said , “Our prayer is that we are able to overcome this menace of COVID – 19 in good time , because it is really taking a toll on our lives .
“If we have to eventually shut down our country , then as a government we must be prepared to have some relief for the most ordinary people .
“I ’m not seeing anything at the moment targeted at providing some relief . If we lock up Nigeria today , then we will wake -up trouble , because majority of our citizens go to market everyday before they can get something to eat .
“So , you lock them up in their houses with a threat of disease and without food . We need to have something , a plan of some sorts , in addition to making sure we don ’t lock up the farmers market for example , where people can easily go and buy something , and of course pharmacies .
“We need to have some kind of supplies to people , I don’t know how we can achieve this , but we have to be ingenious .
“This is a time to think deep and wide , to provide for our people , in order for us at least to deal with this challenge at the moment,” Lawan advised .
The Senate President , in addition , urged the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to establish more testing and isolation centres as soon as more funds are released to it by the Federal Government.
