President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the Presidential Task Force (PTF), on COVID-19 should transition to become the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC), with a modified mandate.
The chairman of PTF, Boss Mustapha, made this known at its weekly briefing on Tuesday.
“Following expiration of the extension on March 31, 2021 and a detailed review, the PTF submitted its report to Mr President for appropriate decisions,” Mr Mustapha said.
“The President has considered the report and has approved that the PTF will transition to a Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, effective from 1 April 2021, with a modified mandate to reflect the non-emergent status of COVID-19 as a potentially long-term pandemic,” Mr Mustapha said.
The PTF was established by President Muhammadu Buhari on March 9, 2020, to coordinate and oversee the country’s multi-sectoral inter-governmental efforts to contain the spread and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
The dissolved PTF team includes the National Coordinator, Sani Aliyu, a former head of Nigeria’s AIDS agency (NACA), who has been absent from the weekly briefings in the past few weeks; the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire; Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Minister of Environment, Muhammad Mahmood; Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora; Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu; and the National Incident Manager (NIM) PTF, Mukhtar Muhammad.