Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 must ensure best practice, Gbajabiamila tasks Reps’ Ad-hoc Committee

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday, tasked the newly inaugurated Ad-hoc Committee on COVID-19 on the need to ensure that the Presidential Task Force comply with international best practices in the discharge of its mandate.

Hon. Gbajabiamila gave the charge while delivering his keynote address during the inauguration of the Ad-hoc Committee chaired by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Hon. Gbajabiamila, who underscored the need for the House to provide quality leadership during the crisis period, noted that: “Nothing defines a nation more than how its leaders and its people rise to the seismic crises that manifest, often without warning, and must be confronted and overcome one way or the other. We now face such a defining crisis. And we too will face the judgment of history. It is in our hands to determine what that judgment will be.”

According to him, the inauguration of the 18-man Committee was a reflection of the “intention of the House of Representative to engage the Executive arm of government in a partnership that serves the best interests of the Nigerian people as we join hands to confront and conquer the most severe challenge of our lives.”

He also admonished the Committee to “ensure the operations of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, are conducted with a view to meet international best practice.

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“Your role is to add value by serving as a link between the Task Force and the National Assembly, and with the Nigerian people whose interests we all serve, and to whom we are all answerable.

“It is also your responsibility to ensure that those of our citizens; doctors, nurses and all the health workers on the frontlines of the fight against Covid-19 in Nigeria receive the full protection they deserve, and the benefits they have so honourably earned. You have the rare opportunity to write your legacy in gold, and I am confident that you will meet that opportunity.

“I urge you to face this responsibility with a sense of urgency and the utmost integrity, rest assured of my support and the support of the entire House of Representatives,” the Speaker noted.

In a chat with Parliamentary Correspondents, Hon. Haruna Mtsheila, explained that the Ad-hoc Committee is to collaborate with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and all relevant MDAs that are trying to prevent and control COVID in this country.

“What we are trying to do is that by the time we are able to add value truly to them, the system would have been strengthened so that post COVID-19 will be able to handle situations like this better.”

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