In Kwara, controversy has continued to trail President Bola Tinubu directives for the distribution of palliatives worth millions of naira to members of the National Assembly (NASS) for onward distribution to their constituencies.
While some reports claimed the President had given Senators and House of Representatives members funds, the lawmakers and members of their constituencies said they are yet to receive Kwara shares.
Reacting to the claim in a jointly signed statement by the Senator representing Kwara Central Saliu Mustapha, Kwara North Soddiq Umar, Kwara South Lola Ashiru, said that there is misinformation suggesting the FGN palliative have been distributed to individual legislators, leading to allegations of hoarding or diversion.
“This is to inform members of the public in Kwara state that their elected representatives at the National Assembly are yet to receive the Federal Government palliatives.
This clarification becomes imperative given the obvious misinformation in some quarters that the FGN palliatives have been disbursed to individual legislators and are either being hoarded or diverted.
“While it is true that the Federal Government has approved allocations of food palliatives through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to be disbursed to various constituencies through the individual members of the National Assembly, the disbursements are still being awaited till this very moment.
“For the avoidance of doubt, neither the three Senators representing Kara Central, Kwara South, and Kwara North nor the members of the House of Representatives representing the federal constituencies of the state have received a single grain of the much talked about FGN food palliative so far.
“We, therefore urge members of the public to disregard in its entirety the misinformation being peddled by the purveyors of fake news in the state.
“As representatives of the people, we are all irrevocably committed to the principles of transparency and accountability.
“We therefore assure our various constituents of adequate and timely information on the FGN food palliatives as soon as they are disbursed by the ministry.
“We thank all our constituents from across the 16 Local Government Areas of the state for their patience, prayers, and understanding so far.”
The Concerned legislators in question, who are members of the APC, include Senator Salihu Mustapha representing Kwara Central, Oyelola Ashiru representing Kwara South, and Senator Suleiman Sadiq Umar representing Kwara North.
Additionally, members of the lower chamber include Raheem Tunji Olawuyi Ajuloopin, Ismail Kayode Tijani, Ahmed Yinka Aluko, Muktah Tolani Shagaya, Adam Ahmed Saba, and Mohammed Omar Bio.
Opposition party questions lawmakers’ silence
Olusegun Olusola Adewara, the Kwara State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, on Sunday, questioned the silence of all Kwara state National Assembly members and urging them to clarify the status of the people’s rice distribution in their constituencies.
The PDP in Kwara State, having patiently awaited responses from these implicated APC legislators, noted with concern their continued silence which is no longer golden. Their unfortunate silence raises suspicions of compromise, suggesting that the allocated rice intended for the people of Kwara may have been diverted and sold to commercial rice dealers in Abuja for their personal gain.
Based on the video made by Honorable Dekeri, each legislator is said to have received a minimum of 2,400 bags of rice. Given the current market price of N54,000 per 50kg bag, this implies that each Kwara legislator may have secretly pocketed one hundred and thirty million naira (#130,000,000) while the nine of them have pocketed about N1.2bn. Should this allegation turn out to be==# true, it will be an unfortunate betrayal of public trust.
Amidst the hardships the people are made to experience under APC governance, it is disheartening that items intended to alleviate such challenges are allegedly converted to monetary gains by those entrusted with the people’s mandate.
The Kwara PDP called for immediate explanations from the implicated APC legislators and demanded transparency in accounting for the federal government’s rice intervention. The Party remains committed to upholding the principles of accountability, integrity, and service to the people.
