Kogi State and Cross River State have conducted the least number of coronavirus tests across Nigeria nearly three months after the country recorded its index case.

Nigeria has recorded a total of 6,175 coronavirus cases in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, as of May 18, 2020.

Kogi and Cross River are the only two states in the country yet to record cases, but authorities have expressed fears that it might be because the governments of both states are not taking the outbreak seriously enough.

The latest situation report published by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday, May 19 has now shown that the two have barely tested enough.

Of the 35,983 tests done across the country, as of May 17, Kogi has only conducted one, while Cross River has conducted seven, the two lowest of any other state.

Yobe, the state which has conducted the third least number of tests, has conducted 50, with 32 of them returning positive results.

Lagos has conducted the highest number of tests with 14,886 which has returned 2,550 positive results, the highest of any state in the country.

The FCT has conducted the second highest number of tests with 4,688 tests (418 positive), followed by Kano with 2653 (825 positive).

Kogi's Governor Yahaya Bello and Cross River's Governor Ben Ayade have both been vocal critics of the response of the Federal Government and other state governments to the coronavirus crisis.

Both have publicly boasted that their states are free of the coronavirus, and insinuated that they are under public pressure to detect cases.

Two weeks ago, a delegation of NCDC officials and Federal Ministry of Health officials sent to Kogi returned to Abuja almost immediately after Bello said they had to be quarantined for 14 days at an isolation centre.

While addressing the delegation on May 7, Bello intensified his rebuke of political leaders, health officials, and the media for their reaction to the outbreak.

"There are so many merchants now marketing COVID-19 as if that is our priority.

"Our struggling economy that Mr President is trying to revive, we're further killing it," the governor said.

The 44-year-old lamented that Kogi's ability to generate revenue has been badly-hit by the heavy-handed response of other governments of surrounding states.

Bello further claimed that he has thoroughly educated himself about the coronavirus, a novel disease, and that its symptoms are nothing new.

"Is this the first time we're having these kinds of symptoms in Nigeria?

"Haven't we been living with it and teaching ourselves and moving on?" he questioned the officials.

Bello also accused the NCDC and the World Health Organisation (WHO) of verbally increasing the mortality rate of the coronavirus disease to create panic.

A delegation of NCDC officials was sent to Cross River on Monday, May 18 to assess the state's response to the virus.

Ayade has similarly publicly voiced his disagreement with the response of the Federal Government to the coronavirus, advising the government to lift many restrictions placed on movement and economic activities.