The Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has narrated how his wives ran away from him after he contracted the dreaded COVID-19 from a fellow governor in 2020.
The governor said no fewer than 50,000 people would have been killed in Kaduna state by the virus last year if a lockdown had not been imposed.
El-Rufai stated this while speaking at the seventh Ahmadu Bello Foundation lecture in Kaduna.
The 61-year-old said he spent 26 days in isolation, adding that even his wives ran away from him.
The lecture tagged ‘COVID-19: Way forward for Northern Nigeria economy,’ was organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation.
El-Rufai said, “A governor infected me with COVID-19 virus and I brought it to Kaduna. I was locked up for 26 days. My wives ran away from me. Fifty thousand people in Kaduna would have died of COVID-19 last year, but for the fact that Kaduna State was the first to lock down.
“I am happy to say because of COVID-19, we have been able to put in place infectious disease wards in our hospitals. People travel around the world so there may be ‘COVID-25’ or 30. With what is happening in India, the situation is scary. But God has been very kind to us.”