Coronavirus
BUA says it purchased COVID-19 vaccine after CACOVID failed to reach an agreement
BUA has stated that it took the initiative to purchase COVID-19 vaccine after members failed to reach an agreement.
BUA has reacted to a statement made by CACOVID disowning the news of it singlehandedly purchasing CoVID-19 vaccines for Nigeria.
The Group said that the recent reaction by the CACOVID operations committee cements the belief that some members of CACOVID were not happy that BUA took initiative in the interest of Nigeria.
BUA Group, in a statement which was released yesterday evening, revealed to the general public that the manufacturing conglomerate through its founder, Abdul Samad Rabiu, acquired a million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for Nigeria, with delivery pegged for next week.
According to the statement, the vaccines which will be delivered any moment from the coming week were purchased by the leading Foods and Infrastructure conglomerate, through the AFREXIM Vaccine programme in partnership with CACOVID.
What CACOVID is saying
While the news of BUA’s intervention was flooding the internet, CACOVID in a press release issued by the operation Committee, claimed that the statement made by the Group Founder, Abdul Samad Rabiu, had been misquoted, as the claims reported by the media houses are not factual.
The private sector-led organization (CACOVID) said it operates on a collegiate fund contribution model, and there is no agreement between BUA, CACOVID, and Afreximbank. CACOVID revealed that its leadership agreed to contribute $100 million to procure vaccines for Nigeria, with the 1 million doses being the very first tranche,
It also added that vaccine purchase is only possible through the Federal Government of Nigeria and that no individual or company can purchase vaccines directly from any legitimate and recognized manufacturer.
BUA’s reaction…
In a bid to set the records straight, BUA reacted to CACOVID’s statement, calling the attention of the private sector-led coalition group to recent development, and the move made by the Group in the recent meeting of the CACOVID steering committee, which the founder of BUA attended as a member.
In the statement titled, “Don’t play with Nigerian lives”, BUA revealed that the decision of the Group to purchase the vaccines was made after no agreement was reached at the CACOVID steering Committee meeting which held yesterday February 8, 2021. The Group stated that after extensive deliberations at the meeting, no agreement was reached despite members being offered the opportunity to donate funds towards procuring the doses.
BUA, therefore, took it upon itself to offer to pay for the 1 million doses at the agreed rate of USS3.45 per dose totaling US$3.45 million, which translates to N1.31 billion.
The payment for the vaccines was made immediately after the meeting, as BUA transferred the money to the CBN, in order to meet the deadline.
The Group stressed that the recent reaction by the CACOVID operations committee cements the belief that some members of CACOVID were not happy that BUA took initiative in the interest of Nigeria.
BUA went further to show proof of payment as seen in the images below:
What you should know
- It is important to note that the president of Afrexim Bank, Benedict Oramah briefed leaders of CACOVID on the $2 billion facilities the bank has set up with the African Union Vaccine taskforce to purchase vaccines for the African Continent.
- From this facility, the allocation for Nigeria has been capped at 42 million doses.
- The first tranche of the 42 million doses, which is pegged at 1 million was paid for by BUA Cement, according to Oramah, this shipment will be ready in the next 2 weeks.
- The vaccines when delivered will be distributed through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency.
Coronavirus
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
On the 2nd of March 2021, 479 new confirmed cases and 8 deaths were recorded in Nigeria
The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 156,496 confirmed cases.
On the 2nd of March 2021, 479 new confirmed cases and 8 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.
To date, 156,496 cases have been confirmed, 134,551 cases have been discharged and 1,923 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A total of 1.54 million tests have been carried out as of March 2nd, 2021 compared to 1.49 million tests a day earlier.
COVID-19 Case Updates- 2nd March 2021,
- Total Number of Cases – 156,496
- Total Number Discharged – 135,136
- Total Deaths – 1,923
- Total Tests Carried out – 1,544,008
According to the NCDC, the 479 new cases are reported from 22 states- Lagos (153), Enugu (75), Rivers (50), FCT (40), Kaduna (18), Ebonyi (17), Plateau (17), Edo (17), Borno (16), Oyo (12) Kano (11), Abia (10), Cross River (10), Taraba (9), Nasarawa (7), Bauchi (4), Bayelsa (3), Delta (3), Ekiti (2), Niger (2), Ogun (2) and Akwa Ibom (1).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 56,001, followed by Abuja (19,274), Plateau (8,911), Kaduna (8,531), Oyo (6,746), Rivers (6,544), Edo (4,607), Ogun (4,398), Kano (3,764), Ondo (2,983), Kwara (2,931), Delta (2,576), Osun (2,433), Nasarawa (2,234), Enugu (2,078), Gombe (2,051), Katsina (2,030), Ebonyi (1,881), Anambra (1,726), and Abia (1,530).
Akwa Ibom has recorded 1,519 cases, Imo (1,497), Borno (1,292), Bauchi (1,232), Benue (1,188), Niger (917), Taraba (813), Ekiti (804), Bayelsa (772), Sokoto (769), Adamawa (762), Jigawa (496), Kebbi (377), Cross River (334), Yobe (268), Zamfara (219), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
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Lock Down and Curfew
In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.
The movement restriction, which was extended by another two weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.
On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.
On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State announced the closed down of the Eti-Osa Isolation Centre, with effect from Friday, 31st July 2020. He also mentioned that the Agidingbi Isolation Centre would also be closed and the patients relocated to a large capacity centre.
Due to the increased number of covid-19 cases in Nigeria, the Nigerian government ordered the reopening of Isolation and treatment centres in the country on Thursday, 10th December 2020.
On 26th January 2021, the Federal Government announced the extension of the guidelines of phase 3 of the eased lockdown by one month following the rising cases of the coronavirus disease in the country and the expiration of phase 3 of the eased lockdown.
On 28th February 2021, the federal government confirmed that the first tranche of Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in Nigeria on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021.
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Coronavirus
Peter Obi urges FG to beg manufacturers, rich nations for COVID-19 vaccines
Obi urged the FG to consider appealing to rich nations, drug manufacturers for vaccines instead of spending billions of nairas to procure them.
