Nigeria Governors Forum has unanimously agreed to implement an inter-State lockdown in the country over the next two weeks to mitigate against the spread of the Coronavirus from State to State, exempting only the essential services.

The chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State made this public at the end of 6th Teleconference meeting held on Wednesday to deliberate on the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Governor Fayemi noted that following an update from the NGF Secretariat on the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, governors expressed serious concern over the rising spread of the virus among health workers and resolved to work with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure that health workers are adequately provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) and are constantly trained on the use of protective gears.

The NGF said “in order to strengthen coordinated implementation of necessary public health recommendations across States, Governors resolved to set up COVID-19 Committees at the regional level, headed by their State Commissioners of Health. Regional Committees will continue to interface with the State Task Force Committees on COVID-19 already established in each State”.

The NGF Chairman, governor Kayode Fayemi briefed the governors during the Teleconference meeting on the rapidly evolving situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and coordination efforts with the federal government, multilateral and bilateral partners, and the private sector through the Coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID).

Governor Fayemi said “with over 25 States now affected by the spread of the virus and increasing evidence of community transmission, State Governors called for the decentralization of the COVID-19 response as the best chance of nipping the spread of the virus in communities”.

The Forum also received briefing from the Governors of Lagos, Bauchi, Oyo and Ogun State who shared their experiences and lessons from the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the NGF congratulated the Governor of Kaduna State, H.E. Nasir El-Rufai who after nearly four weeks of testing positive and observing very strict medical regime has now received two consecutive negative test results for the coronavirus.

Nigeria Governors Forum also conveyed their condolences to Mr President and the people of Borno State over the demise of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Abba Kyari who passed away on 17th April 2020 after contracting Coronavirus.

Whereas the Forum held a minute’s silence in honour of all Nigerians who have lost their lives from coronavirus, especially health workers who were in the front lines of the epidemic.