Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has tested positive to Coronavirus.
This was announced in a statement yesterday by John Okiyi Kalu, the commissioner for information. He said the governor who had now gone into isolation and handed over the affairs of the State to his deputy.
Also yesterday, Abia led the table of the daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 67 infections.
It would be recalled that on Saturday, May 30, 2020, Governor Ikpeazu volunteered his sample for COVID-19 test and subsequently directed members of the state Executive Council (EXCO) and those of the inter ministerial committee on COVID-19 to submit themselves for the same test.
This followed the confirmation that one of the State’s Commissioners who died after “a brief illness,” actually succumbed to Coronavirus. But the result of the first test released on June 2, 2020 returned negative.
Two days later, on June 4, 2020, the Governor submitted another sample at NCDC laboratory for confirmation and the result returned positive.
Okayi said: ”As a result, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has gone into isolation, as required by relevant NCDC protocols, and he is being managed by a competent team of medical practitioners with a view to nursing him back to good health.
”Consequent on the above, the Governor has directed his Deputy, Rt Hon Ude Oko Chukwu, to act on his behalf pending his full resumption of duties.
”We wish to urge all Abians to take the fight against COVID-19 serious as the disease is real but not a death sentence. Our state has the resources to manage patients back to good health.”
Governor Ikpeazu is the fourth governor to contract the coronavirus in Nigeria. Earlier, Governors Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi had tested positive to the virus and survived it.