ECOWAS LEADERS APPOINT PRESIDENT BUHARI AS NATIONAL LEADER OF THE COVID 19 RESPONSE TEAM

Presidents of West African countries, under the aegis of the Economic Community of West African States Authority of Heads of State and Government, have appointed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), Champion of their COVID-19 response.

A statement by Femi Adesina, Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, disclosed that the appointment took place on Thursday at the Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit on COVID-19, which held via teleconference under the Chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou.

During the teleconference, Buhari called on fellow ECOWAS leaders to look beyond the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and tap into various opportunities that it presents for the betterment of lives in the Member States.

While calling on his colleagues to intensify collaboration in order to save the region from this deadly pandemic through sharing our experiences and best practices, Buhari outlined some measures taken by his regime in response to the pandemic.

They included reduction of interest rates on all applicable Central Bank of Nigeria interventions from nine per cent to five per cent and introduction of a one-year moratorium on CBN intervention facilities; and the inauguration of a presidential task force to coordinate national efforts to combat the spread of the virus and ensure efficiency and effectiveness in line with the Nigerian Action Plan on Health Security.

Other measures, Buhari noted, were the provision of relief materials, including medical and food supplies, as well as conditional cash transfers of N20,000 each to poor and vulnerable households; and the establishment of more isolation centres and testing facilities to contain the spread of the virus.