The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has asked the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, to apologize for “misinforming” Nigerians on the mission of the 15 Chinese doctors who arrived in the country on April 8.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Yemi Kolapo, said this in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday.
The minister had informed Nigerians that medical personnel “are not guests of the federal government but CCECC, a construction company”.
She said: “Ehanire has failed to address the real issues raised by concerned Nigerians on the whereabouts of a ’15-member Chinese medical team.’
“The minister’s explanation that the 15 Chinese men were guests of the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) and not of the Nigerian government could not close the “untidy” case.
“In a matter that had been followed by the entire world, a simple apology will reassure Nigerians that we are not being taken for fools.
“Not apologising for this needless messy situation would send a wrong signal to the world on the manner of governance in Nigeria.”
Kolapo said that the ADC was at the forefront of calls for support for the Federal Government because of the party’s conviction that politicising the COVID-19 pandemic would neither benefit citizens nor the economy.
She said the Chinese medical team saga was, however, a dent that cannot be straightened with a passing remark.
The spokesperson said this was not with the kind of world attention the federal government attracted to the country a few hours before the arrival of the doctors turned technicians.
