Abuja, 29 April 2017 - The Vice President, His Excellency Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has urged State Governors to tackle polio with all the seriousness and commitment it deserves to ensure that the crippling disease is eradicated from Nigeria.

Addressing the Presidential Task Force on Polio Eradication (PTFoPE) meeting in Abuja, Professor Osinbajo who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, emphasized the urgency, and strong commitment needed to complete the goal of polio eradication as rapidly as possible bearing in mind that it is major priority of the government.

The PTFoPE was inaugurated in March 2012 to provide oversight and ensure effective leadership for polio eradication in Nigeria. In January 2016, the Task Force was expanded to include all 36 Executive Governors, and the mandate broadened beyond polio eradication to include oversight of routine immunization and primary health care.

The Vice President recalled that President Buhari had personally signed the revised ‘Abuja Commitments’ in January 2016 with the State Governors as a demonstration of his resolve to achieve polio eradication in Nigeria. He called on the Governors to ensure commitment of LGA Chairmen in their respective states, and directed security agencies to continue to collaborate with health workers to reach all children with vaccination services.

He assured that the Federal Government of Nigeria will release the 2017 budget allocation for the polio programme once the budget is passed by the Senate, and appealed to the Governors to follow suit with timely release of counterpart funds at state level.

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole at the meeting, restated government’s commitment through the prompt release of earmarked funds for polio eradication in the 2016 budget, which enabled a robust response to the wild polio virus (WPV) outbreak of the same year due to the confirmation of four WPV 1 cases in Borno state. A national public health emergency was declared in 2016 following the WPV outbreak.

The Minister who also updated the PTFoPE on the status of measles elimination in Nigeria, called for the full commitment of governors to support efforts in their states to achieve measles elimination by 2020.

Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, the Governor of Zamfara and Chairman, Governors’ Forum of Nigeria, Alhaji Abdul'aziz Abubakar Yari, recommitted to double their efforts towards polio eradication. “We will not let this effort down. We will do our best to achieve zero case in our respective states”, he emphasized.

The PTFoPE meeting was attended by religious and traditional leaders, the Chair of the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee, the Executive Director of Nigeria Interfaith Association, partner agencies (World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, Rotary International, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and government dignitaries.

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