Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
Six members of the House of Representatives from Ebonyi State have made a joint donation of N1,2m to Ebonyi State government to support its fight against coronavirus in the state.
The chairman of Ebonyi Anti-COVID-19 Fundraising Committee and speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Chief Francis Nwifuru, announced this in Abakaliki on Monday.
Chief Nwifuru also announced that the former governor of the state and senator representing Ebonyi North in Nigeria, Dr. Sam Egwu, also donated N1m to the government.
According to Nwifuru, other donors are Ebele/Anyichuks Foundation, N10m; Senator Michael Ama Nnachi (Ebonyi South), N5m and former Chief Judge of the state, Justice Aloy Nwakwo, N.5m.
Some residents of the state have taken to social media to condemn the donation, describing it as ‘too small’ given their positions in the state.
But one of the lawmakers, when contacted, told our correspondent that the donation was not small since they were also doing something in their individual constituencies.
The lawmaker who begged not to be mentioned explained that the gesture was to encourage the government its preparedness to stop the virus from spreading into the state.
He said: “We made the donation as a group. It was to encourage the state government on whatever it is doing now to stop the disease from entering into the state.
“As you know, there has not been any index case in Ebonyi; so there is no need for panic for now. Besides, we also resolved to do something in our various constituencies for our people. We urge them to make judicious use of the money.”