Key members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s kitchen cabinet in the Aso Rock villa, Abuja, have reportedly been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection, and asked to self-isolate while taking treatment..
Among those diagnosed with the infection after PCR test results were released are the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu; the Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Yusuf Dodo; and Chief Security Officer (CSO), Aliyu Musa.
Garba Shehu reportedly confirmed that he was diagnosed with the infection and advised to self-isolate, an instruction he said he has heeded, while being on prescribed medication.
He, however, said he had no confirmation about the diagnosis for the other persons mentioned by the online newspaper as being diagnosed with the virus and removed for quarantine.
“Have you read the Premium Times report? What I said in it is the truth to the best of my knowledge; what is true is that I know about myself that I’m self-isolating and taking my medication, but I know of no other case,” Shehu said.
The report also claimed that the Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed, as well as the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Alhaji Tijani Umar, were similarly diagnosed with the infection.
However, both the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Mohammed, and the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Umar, have been seen in the Villa on Thursday and Friday.
Testing for COVID-19 has recently been ramped up in the Presidential Villa following the emergence of the Omicron variant, to ensure the containment of the virus.