COVID-19: Northern governors disagree with presidency on total lockdown

As the nation battles the COVID-19 pandemic despite various preventive measures in place, Northern Governor’s Forum has disagreed with the federal government on the total lockdown as a means of fighting the disease.

The forum also directed each state in the region to adopt the measure suitable to its setting on the premise that total lockdown of the region will come at a very high cost since most of its citizens were farmers who need to go to farms since the rains have started.

According to a statement signed by the Director of Press Affairs to the Chairman of the forum, Dr Makut Simon Machan, the governors who unanimously took the decision at the end of its teleconference meeting presided over by its Chairman, Governor Simon Bako Lalong discussed various issues experienced on measures adopted by individual states to deal with the COVID-19.

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The forum resolved to strengthen preventive measures against the pandemic through enhanced border controls and surveillance as well as greater collaboration to ensure that there is synergy among them in movement restriction.

They noted that the lockdown in some states in the region has had varying levels of success, but also raised concerns that enforcing cross-border movements remains a challenge as some of the cases recorded in some states were imported from outside despite the closure of borders by states.

The governors also agreed that at the moment, each state would adopt the measure suitable to its setting because total lockdown of the region will come at a very high cost since most of its citizens are farmers who need to go to farms since the rains have started.

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