The Oyo State Government wants to make it unquestionably clear that there is presently no verified case of diphtheria in Oyo State.
This reality stands in plain contrast to the harmful false information being flowed by the Senator Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation (SSACO), whose newest declaration efforts to produce a public health crisis where none exists. By pitching overstated break out claims and misshaping immunisation information, SSACO has as soon as again showed an uncomfortable desire to spin frauds for political benefit, even at the cost of public security.
According to security details offered by the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, SSACO’s claim that diphtheria is impacting “a number of Local Government Areas” throughout Oyo State is totally incorrect. SSACO noted 16 LGAs as impacted, consisting of Atisbo, Ibadan North West, Oyo West, Akinyele, Saki, Egbeda, Oriire, Ibadan North, Ibadan South West, Iwajowa, Ona Ara, Atiba, Lagelu, Ogbomosho North, Surulere and Oluyole. Main figures from the Ministry of Health’s Diphtheria Outbreak Surveillance Update (Epidemiological Week 40, 2026) reveal believed cases in just 10 LGAs, and none has actually been verified. SSACO’s inflated location is a fabrication efficient in triggering needless public stress and anxiety.
The Government notes, with issue, SSACO’s growing tendency for releasing lies and false information in pursuit of political traction. Its newest claims follow a familiar pattern in which public health matters are distorted, information are cherry chosen, and worry is made to score political points. This behaviour is careless, unbecoming of any organisation that declares to serve the general public, and completely undesirable in matters as delicate as illness monitoring and youth immunisation.
Dr. Ajetunmobi even more described that, regardless of the lack of verified cases, the Ministry has actually taken all essential readiness and reaction procedures. The General Public Health Emergency Operations Centre has actually acquired antibiotic products and asked for buffer stock of diphtheria antitoxin (DAT). Fast reaction groups have actually been triggered immediately for thought cases in line with the 7 1 7 structure, and believed cases have actually been separated and dealt with at the Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo, utilizing DAT and suitable prescription antibiotics. These actions show a federal government that takes public health seriously and acts proactively to safeguard its individuals.
Similarly misinforming is SSACO’s claim that Oyo State ranks at the bottom of South West youth immunisation protection. SSACO asserted that Oyo moved from 51.3% in the 2024 NDHS to 55.0% in the 2025– 26 study and for that reason ranks last in the area. This claim is incorrect. Validated NmDHS 2025– 26 information reveal that Oyo State’s fundamental antigen protection is at the South West typical, while its nationwide schedule protection surpasses the zonal average. For kids aged 24– 35 months, Oyo’s complete nationwide schedule protection is above the South West average. SSACO’s figures are created, and the main information entirely take apart the “bottom of the area” story.
The Government likewise keeps in mind SSACO’s effort to depict Oyo State’s involvement in the Immunization Plus part of the IMPACT Project as proof of failure. This is deceptive. Involvement in IMPACT is a truth, not an indictment. SSACO’s own text explains a multi element task, yet it sets cumulative invoices versus a single immunisation sign in a way that is analytically unsound. The funds gotten under IMPACT are not totally free cash, and the Government has actually utilized them strictly for their desired functions. If SSACO declares mismanagement, it needs to define what, where, and how, and present proof– instead of juxtapose unassociated figures with unproven break out claims.
Relating to SSACO’s need for publication of IMPACT reports, the Government repeats that IMPACT monetary and execution reporting follows the task’s recognized audit and disclosure structure. The Ministry of Health invites analysis through suitable channels, consisting of the audit procedure. Analysis is genuine; utilizing an unproven break out as a phase for political messaging is not.
In the end, the truths promote themselves: there is no validated diphtheria case in Oyo State, the LGAs noted by SSACO are not supported by monitoring information, and the immunisation figures it distributed collapse under the weight of confirmed nationwide stats. What SSACO has actually selected to do; turning an unproven break out into a political tool, pump up location, and manufacture rankings, is negligent and deeply careless. Oyo State will continue to react to every presumed case with seriousness, safeguard every kid through vaccination, and release just precise, proof based info. What the Government will refrain from doing is permit public health matters to be twisted into instruments of political worry. Individuals of Oyo State should have clearness, not mixtures; realities, not fabrications. The reality is clear, the action is active, and the frauds have actually been exposed.
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