The Nigeria Governors Forum has said 32 out of Nigeria’s 36 states now have molecular laboratories dedicated to testing for COVID-19.

The forum also said 29 states had received funding from the Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement Project to strengthen their public health response to COVID-19

This was contained in a communiqué issued after the forum’s 15th teleconference held on Wednesday.

The communiqué, which was made public on Thursday, was signed by the NGF Chairman, Kayode Fayemi.

The forum noted that testing remained the number one priority for the government.

Fayemi, who is the governor of Ekiti State, said discussions were ongoing with the Federal Government through the Ministry of Education to facilitate access to unrealised funds from the Universal Basic Education Fund.

The NGF said it was also awaiting an advisory from the Attorney-General of the Federation on the call for a waiver on counterpart funds from states in the light of the impact of the COVID-19 on their finances.

Other issues discussed at the virtual meeting include briefings received from the National Economic Council’s Security Ad Hoc Committee comprising the governors of Ekiti, Katsina, Borno, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Kogi and Lagos states, who met with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on August 11, 2020, to present the concerns of governors on the security situation in the country.

“At the meeting, the President called for better inter-service coordination and assured governors that necessary security equipment were being provided to the security agencies,” the communiqué stated.

The forum also received update from the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who heads the NGF committee interfacing with the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation on the implementation of Executive Order 10.

According to the communiqué, the committee is currently working on a template acceptable to all parties for the implementation of financial autonomy for state legislature and judiciary.