The Nigerian government has refuted alleged reports that two suspected Ebola cases were found in Kwara and Kaduna States.
Giving update on the Ebola outbreak to the Federal Executive Council in Abuja, the Minister of Health Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu said both suspected cases were tested and certified negative.
12 confirmed Ebola cases
“Twelve cases have been confirmed out of which two cases are being treated in Lagos while five cases were successfully managed with five deaths including the Liberian Index Case,’’ Professor Chukwu told the council.
The councils also approved N31 billion for the evacuation of 40 Mega Watts of electricity from Kashin Bila Dam, in Taraba, North East of the country as part of efforts to improve power supply.
“The power to be evacuated will complement the power supply the country had, generate employment and trigger economic development of the area,’’ the Minister of State for Power, Muhammad Wakil explained.
According to him, “the dam, designed for agriculture, water supply and electricity is expected to provide jobs for hundreds of thousands of Nigerians on completion.”
The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku stated that the contract include the development of infrastructure for evacuating power from the dam.
“The project is expected to benefit the entire northeast and will be completed in 18 months,’’ Maku said.
Presidential Committee report
The council also received report of the Presidential Committee on the erosion in the Southeast and recommended the adoption of a holistic approach to solve ecological problems in the region and the country in general.
The Council reiterated commitment to early completion of the erosion control projects.
“We devoted a substantial part of today's meeting to the review of report of the erosion control project in the south eastern part of Nigeria,’’ Mr Maku stressed.
The Director General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, Mr Emeka Eze said President Jonathan had inaugurated a committee to review all the erosion control contracts in the affected areas.
"Today, the committee reported back to Council on its findings and recommendations to ensure speedy completion of the projects currently ongoing. We were reassured that the ecological office has started the ratification of all the teething problems connected with the erosion projects,’’ Mr Eze explained.
He identified some of the challenges to include; irregularity of funding, administrative bottlenecks and inadequate technical supervision.
Mr Eze promised that the projects would be completed under the current administration.
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