The Federal Government has reacted to reports that Nigeria had been asked to pay €170,000 for the Madagascar herbal mixture delivered to President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 pandemic, Boss Mustapha said he was not aware of any cost paid for the Madagascar herbal mixture.
According to him, Nigeria had taken delivery of the COVID-19 solution sent to the county by Madagascar without request without any invoice or price tag.
“In terms of the question of whether it comes with a cost. It was handed to me without an invoice so I assume it doesn’t come with a cost,” he said.
“That’s my assumption. For that, I think the Madagascar issue and the Chinese issue should be laid to rest.
“I think we have said repeatedly hear that we did not ask for the Madagascar consignment, it was given by the government of Madagascar to African countries as their contribution to wanting to find solution to the COVID-19 pandemic and we have repeatedly said our consignment and those of West African countries, was dropped off at Guinea Bissau and that we were making arrangements to go and airlift it.
“As God would have it, the President of Guinea Bissau decided to visit our President last Saturday and when he was coming, he came with our consignment of five cartons and those five cartons were delivered to me yesterday in the evening, sealed, without a bottle out of it.
“I’m going to engage the Minister of Health who has the responsibility of validation, through his institutions that are chartered by law to do that.
“The President was upfront with that even when he took delivery of it from the President of Guinea Bissau.
“He said it quite clear of what we are going to do with the consignment would be guided by science, under the processes of validation, we’ll now know where to go,” Mustapha said.