The Deputy Chief of Staff to Gov. Alex Otti, Mr Chinedu Ekeke, says that Abia has received 3,000 bags of rice from the Federal Government Subsidy Removal Palliative Programme.
Ekeke said this on Wednesday while speaking to newsmen at the Government House, Umuahia.
He said that this was in contrast to the initial 40,540 bags of Maize, 81,000 bags of Rice and 121,432 bags of fertilizers expected from the Federal Government, and added that Abia had received N2 billion out of the N5 billion approved for states.
Ekeke said; “The Abia state government has received 3,000 bags of rice which came in five trucks; we were told that there would be fertilizers and also maize but we have not seen any of those.
“We were promised N5 billion, but what we received as at last week Thursday was N2 billion. We are still expecting the balance and as at today, we have not received the remaining N3 billion.”
Ekeke who expressed optimism that additional federal government palliatives will soon arrive and added that the state of had chosen to distribute the palliatives to vulnerable members of society.
He said that there was a standing order that no government official would be given a grain of the rice, “so our job is to distribute to the society’s most vulnerable in all our communities”.
The Chairman of the State Sharing of the Federal Government Palliative Committee, Rev’d Father Christian Anokwuru, said that the in line with the modality outlined for the distribution of the palliative,the focused would be on the poor and vulnerable.
Anokwuru said that the decision to share the rice among the poor and vulnerable was informed by the fact that the rice made available to the state would not be enough to get to everyone.
He said that the state got only 3,000 50kg bags of rice as against the 81,000, which was expected from the Federal Government (FG).
“The mail we received showed that Abia will be given 40,540 bags of maize, 81,000 50kg bags of rice and 121,432 50kg bags of fertilizer.
“These were expected, but the only thing we got is 3,000 bags of rice and we decided to share the rice at the ward level throughout the 184 wards in Abia.
“That is the model we choose and we have already briefed the people in charge on the personalities that we want to be captured in the exercise,” Anokwuru said.
He said that the committee had been given the mandate to ensure that the distribution would be transparent and seamless.
Anokwuru said that each ward in the 184 wards would be given 14 bags and serious efforts have been made to ensure that credible and responsible persons handle the sharing in each ward.
He expressed hope that the federal government would send another batch of palliatives to the state and added that the sharing modalities would be reviewed to accommodate more persons.
The representative of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Comrade Okoro Ogbonnaya, expressed disappointment with the federal government’s decision to allocate 3,000 bags of rice to Abia state, contrary to what had been reported in the media.
He described it as appalling, adding that it would make it difficult for everyone to captured in the distribution of relief supplies.
Ogbonnaya commended the state government for its proactive approach in choosing to distribute the 3,000 bags of rice to the poor and vulnerable members of society.
He, further commended the government over its decision to invest the N2 billion naira in acquiring long buses, aimed at alleviating the high transportation costs within the state.
Also, the representative of Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Mr Uma Kalu, described the distribution of the palliative as transparent.
Kalu said:” Everything is going on fine as all the supervisors are here and we were told that another consignment is coming and let’s believe that Federal Government will make good their promise.”
