The Oyo State Government, on Tuesday, described as misleading the Senator Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation of All Progressives Congress’s claim that about 16 local government areas of the state have been affected by diphtheria outbreak.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, according to a statement issued by Special Adviser to the Governor Media, Sulaimon Olarenwaju, in Ibadan, the state capital, said the claim was entirely false.
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 of APC in the state had earlier expressed grave concern over the reports of an outbreak of diphtheria affecting several local government areas in the state, with attendant cases and fatalities among children.
The 16 local government areas reported to be affected, according to the campaign organisation, are “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.”
This was contained in a statement issued by the Campaign Organisation’s Director of Media and Publicity, Bisi Oladele, in Ibadan.
However, the commissioner said the fact stood in stark contrast to the misinformation being circulated by the SSACO, whose latest statement attempted to manufacture a public health crisis where none existed.
The 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.”
SSACO listed 16 LGAs as affected. However, official figures from the Ministry of Health’s Diphtheria Outbreak Surveillance Update (Epidemiological Week 40, 2026) show suspected cases in only 10 LGAs, and none have been confirmed.
It described SSACO’s inflated geography as a fabrication capable of causing needless 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 explained that, despite the absence of confirmed cases, the ministry has taken all necessary preparedness and response measures.
“The Public Health Emergency Operations Centre has procured antibiotic supplies and requested buffer stock of diphtheria antitoxin.
“Rapid response teams have been activated promptly for suspected cases in line with the 7 1 7 framework, and suspected cases have been isolated and treated at the Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo, using DAT and appropriate antibiotics.
“These steps reflect a government that takes public health seriously and acts proactively to protect its people,” it added.
It also countered SSACO’s claim that Oyo ranked at the bottom of South West childhood immunisation coverage.
SSACO asserted that Oyo moved from 51.3 per cent in the 2024 NDHS to 55.0 per cent in the 2025–26 survey and therefore ranks last in the region.
“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.
“For children aged 24–35 months, Oyo’s full national schedule coverage is above the South West average. SSACO’s figures are invented, and the official data completely dismantle the ‘bottom of the region’ narrative,” the statement added.
The commissioner further explained that the government also noted SSACO’s attempt to portray Oyo participation in the Immunisation Plus component of the IMPACT Project as evidence of failure.
“This is misleading. Participation in IMPACT is a fact, not an indictment. SSACO’s own text describes a multi-component project, yet it sets cumulative receipts against a single immunisation indicator in a manner that is analytically unsound.
“The funds received under IMPACT are not free money, and the government has used them strictly for their intended purposes.
“If SSACO alleges mismanagement, it must specify what, where, and how, and present evidence, rather than juxtapose unrelated figures with unverified outbreak claims,” it added.
Regarding SSACO’s demand for publication of IMPACT reports, she said IMPACT financial and implementation reporting followed the project’s established audit and disclosure framework.
“The Ministry of Health welcomes scrutiny through appropriate channels, including the audit process. Scrutiny is legitimate; using an unverified outbreak as a stage for political messaging is not.
“In the end, the facts speak for themselves: there is no confirmed diphtheria case in Oyo, the LGAs listed by SSACO are not supported by surveillance data, and the immunisation figures it circulated collapse under the weight of verified national statistics.
“What SSACO has chosen to do- turning an unverified outbreak into a political tool, inflate geography, and manufacture rankings- is reckless and deeply irresponsible,” it added.
The health commissioner, therefore, promised that the government would continue to respond to every suspected case with urgency, protect every child through vaccination, and publish only accurate, evidence-based information.
“What the government will not do is allow public health matters to be twisted into instruments of political fear.
“The people of Oyo deserve clarity, not concoctions; facts, not fabrications. The truth is clear, the response is active, and the falsehoods have been exposed,” the commissioner explained.