JUST IN: Speaker, Clerk Niger State Assembly Test Positive For COVID-19

Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Bawa, and the clerk of the House, Abdullahi Kagara have tested positive for Coronavirus.

Both the Speaker and Clerk have since gone into self-isolation.

The Commissioner of Information in the State, Muhammed Idris, confirmed this to Channels Television on Sunday.

According to him the results of the COVID-19 test of the Speaker and the Clerk came in on Sunday, and they both turned out positive.

A member representing Bida 2 Constituency, Haruna Baba speaking with Channels Television said the member representing Gurara Local Government and Chairperson of the House Committee on Gender Affairs, Binta Mamman had earlier tested positive for the virus two weeks ago.

This made the entire legislators and staff of the Assembly volunteer be tested for COVID-19 last week.

He said the results of the Speaker and the Clerk, however, came out positive, while other results are still being awaited.

“We are yet to receive other results. But for now, many of us are in self-isolation,” Baba said.

The official report from the State’s Emergency Operation Centre however shows that Niger State currently has 311 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 12 deaths so far recorded.

Governor Abubakar Bello had in November tested positive for the virus but recovered about a week after.

Meanwhile, the state government in response to the second wave of COVID-19 announced the closure of schools in the state as from Monday 21, December, while all civil servants are to stay at home beginning from the same date