Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has revealed that SMS (short message service) to Nigerians on coronavirus is being funded by the agency’s private partners.
The NCDC DG disclosed this during a press briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID on Friday.
Responding to a question by a reporter, Ihekweazu replied:
“We have not spent a dime on text messaging contrary to the fake news on social media.
“In fact, I receive those text messages like every other Nigeria. It is being taken care of and fully funded by our private partners.”
It can be recalled that a reported had surfaced on social media suggesting that the NCDC spent N10 billion to educate Nigerians on COVID-19 through text messages.
However, the agency dismissed the news stating that though SMS is being sent but the claim on spending N1bn naira is ‘FALSE’.
