The Presidential Villa in Abuja is in a state of partial lockdown, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, has declared.
Adesina made the declaration on Wednesday during an interactive session with State House correspondent in Abuja.
He said the situation at the Presidential Villa was like the one in the country in general at the moment.
His words: “Things are a bit on a low key, it doesn’t mean that the State House is shut down, it’s just that things are a bit on the low key just like the rest of the country. The rest of the country is also on a low key, there is partial lockdown in most parts of the country. So, what is happening at the State House can also be called a partial lockdown but not a complete lockdown.”
He said it was in compliance with the directives aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus that the presidency decided to suspend the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting held every Wednesday.
According to him, it was a gathering of more than 50 people and holding it would mean a violation of the steps taken to stem the spread of coronavirus.
He however said that meetings could still be held to take some key decisions just that only the relevant government officials would be present in accordance with the directive regarding the number and space.
“The council was suspended because of the size. You have over 50 people seated in the council chambers whenever the meeting holds and that is not advisable at a time like this.
“But if there would be a very important decision to be taken, you can always summon the relevant people, three, four or five and hold a small meeting and arrive at a decision. It does not mean that one man is going to be taking all the decisions. Of course yes there are executive decisions but the ones that must pass through consultations of which must have a buy in of the federal executive council can always be discussed at a smaller meeting.”
Adesina also spoke on Buhari testing negative to coronavirus.
He described the outcome as cheering.
“That calls for rejoicing with him. Anybody that does the test and test negative we will rejoice with that person. And anybody that does it and tests positive, it’s not a death sentence. We also would pray along with the person, give the person our good will and best wishes and they will surely come out of it. Even the index case in Nigeria recovered and has been discharged. So, God that has shown us mercy thus far will continue to show that mercy. Anybody that test positive is not a death sentence, they will be attended to, they will be tested and they will be fine,” he said.
