Ebola: Political Parties Reject Calls to Suspend 2027 Campaigns

Some political parties have opposed calls to suspend campaign activities ahead of the 2027 general elections following Nigeria’s reported Ebola case.

The parties maintained that political campaigns could continue under appropriate safety protocols to minimise the risk of transmission during rallies and other large gatherings.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, had said there was no immediate need to cancel political campaigns, conferences or other large public gatherings following the reported case.

Also, the National Director of Publicity of the All Progressives Congress, Bala Ibrahim, urged Nigerians to remain calm, noting that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies had issued advisories on the outbreak.

Ibrahim cautioned against politicising the health situation, warning that doing so could create unnecessary panic and confusion among Nigerians.

He said, “Contagious disease or infectious diseases that require quarantine and proper investigation is not something that you subject to political discussion. This is a very technical issue and a sensitive one for that matter.

“Let us not take the matter to the political arena where there will be panic, and there will be fear and confusion in the country.”

However, the African Democratic Congress expressed concern that the Federal Government could use the outbreak as a justification to restrict opposition parties from campaigning ahead of the 2027 elections.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, told Sunday PUNCH that while the health of Nigerians should remain a priority, any decision to restrict political activities must be supported by clear and transparent public health considerations.

Abdullahi also linked the concern to President Bola Tinubu’s reported declaration that he would not be able to campaign, warning that other political parties should not be prevented from reaching voters under the pretext of controlling the outbreak.

“The health of Nigerians should be the priority for everyone, but we also have to be very careful that we don’t create a situation for political opportunism. With President Bola Tinubu declaring that he will not be able to campaign, we are afraid that the federal government may now take advantage of this Ebola situation to shut down campaigns for other political parties as well.

“If they want to advise us not to campaign, they have to tell us why and then we will also raise other questions at the appropriate time,” he said.

Similarly, the Social Democratic Party opposed an outright suspension of political campaigns, calling instead for stronger disease surveillance and preventive measures to protect Nigerians.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Rufus Araba, said the reported case did not justify a blanket suspension of campaign activities as political parties prepared for the elections.

He explained that candidates needed to engage voters and communicate their manifestos, stressing that political participation could continue while appropriate steps were taken to safeguard public health.

The Nigeria Democratic Congress also urged political parties to adopt safer campaign strategies, including measures to reduce physical contact at political gatherings, rather than suspend activities altogether.

The party’s Publicity Secretary in Lagos State, Olushile Akinyemi, told the Punch that suspending political activities without clear and transparent justification could deepen public suspicion, particularly amid existing distrust of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the electoral process.

Akinyemi argued that political parties could adjust their campaign methods to minimise the risk of infection while ensuring candidates remained connected to voters.

“Campaigns should continue under strict safety protocols, and not be halted abruptly,” he said.

The disagreement comes amid growing public attention on Nigeria’s first reported case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus disease, following the confirmation that the infected woman is a Swiss national and the wife of a staff member at the Swiss embassy in Abuja.

As previously reported, the Swiss Foreign Ministry disclosed on Friday, October 23, that the woman and her husband had travelled to Uganda approximately two weeks before the statement was issued. Swiss authorities said the woman was believed to have contracted the virus during the trip, although the precise location of exposure remained under investigation.

The ministry stated that neither the woman nor her husband had visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is at the centre of the ongoing outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain.

“The Swiss woman, who is symptomatic, has been hospitalised for about a week at a private clinic in Abuja,” the statement said.

The Swiss authorities added that the woman’s husband had been placed in isolation as a precaution but had not developed symptoms. Other staff members at the embassy were also reported to be in good health.

Nigerian health authorities had earlier confirmed that the woman tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain after arriving in Abuja from Uganda on October 3 aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET333.

Olajumoke Babatunde, Director of Public Health Laboratory Services at the NCDC, disclosed during an emergency meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, October 21, that laboratory investigations had confirmed the strain.

“We did three levels of tests, but all molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo,” Babatunde said.

The Nigerian government has intensified efforts to prevent the virus from spreading, with health authorities identifying 44 contacts linked to the patient. The contacts reportedly include healthcare workers, fellow patients, caregivers and individuals connected to her travel history.

The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the NCDC and the FCT Health Services Secretariat are coordinating the response, while health facilities and port health surveillance units across the country have been placed on high alert.

The Bundibugyo strain is a type of Ebola virus first identified during an outbreak in Uganda in 2007. The disease can cause severe illness and death and is primarily transmitted through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person who has developed symptoms, as well as contaminated materials.

Symptoms may include fever, severe weakness, headache, muscle pain and sore throat, followed in some cases by vomiting, diarrhoea and other serious complications. The incubation period generally ranges from two to 21 days.

Nigeria previously experienced an Ebola outbreak in 2014 after an infected traveller arrived in Lagos from Liberia. Health authorities successfully contained that outbreak.

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