The Oyo State Government has dismissed as misleading claims by the Senator Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation (SSACO) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that diphtheria has affected about 16 local government areas in the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, described the allegation as false in a statement issued in Ibadan by the Governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Sulaimon Olarenwaju.
Ajetunmobi said, “By peddling exaggerated outbreak claims and distorting immunisation data, SSACO has once again demonstrated a troubling willingness to spin falsehoods for political advantage, even at the expense of public safety.”
The PUNCH reports that SSACO had earlier raised concerns over reports of diphtheria cases and fatalities among children across several local government areas in the state.
The campaign organisation identified the affected areas as “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.”
The claim was contained in a statement released in Ibadan by the organisation’s Director of Media and Publicity, Bisi Oladele.
However, the health commissioner maintained that the allegation contradicted available surveillance data, accusing the group of spreading misinformation about the state’s public health situation.
The government’s statement read, “The Oyo State Government wishes to make it unequivocally clear that there is currently no confirmed case of diphtheria in Oyo State.
“According to surveillance information provided by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, SSACO’s claim that diphtheria is affecting ‘several local government areas’ across Oyo State is entirely false.”
According to the statement, although SSACO identified 16 affected local government areas, the Ministry of Health’s Diphtheria Outbreak Surveillance Update for Epidemiological Week 40 of 2026 recorded suspected cases in only 10 LGAs, with no confirmed cases.
The government described the campaign organisation’s account of the geographical spread as fabricated and warned that it could trigger unnecessary public anxiety.
“The government notes, with concern, SSACO’s growing propensity for deploying lies and misinformation in pursuit of political traction.
“Its latest claims follow a familiar pattern in which public health matters are distorted, data are cherry-picked, and fear is manufactured to score political points.
“This behaviour is reckless, unbecoming of any organisation that claims to serve the public, and wholly unacceptable in matters as sensitive as disease surveillance and childhood immunisation.”
Ajetunmobi further disclosed that the state had implemented precautionary measures to prepare for and respond to suspected cases despite the absence of confirmed infections.
According to the statement, the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre had procured antibiotics and requested additional buffer supplies of diphtheria antitoxin.
It added that rapid response teams had been activated to handle suspected cases in line with the 7-1-7 framework, while suspected patients had been isolated and treated at the Infectious Disease Centre in Olodo with diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) and appropriate antibiotics.
“These steps reflect a government that takes public health seriously and acts proactively to protect its people,” the statement added.
The state government also rejected SSACO’s assertion that Oyo ranked lowest in childhood immunisation coverage across the South-West.
The campaign organisation had claimed that the state’s coverage increased from 51.3 per cent in the 2024 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) to 55.0 per cent in the 2025–2026 survey, yet remained the lowest in the region.
However, the government countered the claim, stating, “This claim is false. Verified NDHS 2025–26 data show that Oyo State’s basic antigen coverage is at the South West average, while its national schedule coverage exceeds the zonal average.”
