The governor of Abia state, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has tested positive for the dreaded coronavirus.
Mr. John Okiyi, the state Commissioner for Information made this known in a statement issued yesterday.
He explained that the confirmation was from the result of the second test conducted on Thursday which returned positive.
It could be recalled that Governor Ikpeazu had on 30th May volunteered to undergo the COVID-19 test. He subsequently directed members of the state executive to do the same.
The governor’s initial test was confirmed negative while the second which was conducted on 4th June was positive.
Earlier, three governors among who were, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state, and Mr. Seyi Makinde of Oyo had tested positive of the virus but have recovered.
“On Thursday, 4th June, 2020, the Governor submitted another sample at the Nigeria Center For Disease Control (NCDC) laboratory for confirmation and the result returned positive.
“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.” the statement read.
