Kwara, Edo and Abia states have received Federal Government’s palliatives to cushion the effect of Coronavirus lockdown on their residents.
The package includes 1,800 bags of 50-kilogramme rice and 700 pieces of 25-litre vegetable oil.
Secretary to Kwara State Government (SSG), Prof Mamman Saba Jibril, who received the items on behalf of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, hailed the Federal Government for the gesture.
He said the palliatives were meant for the most vulnerable in the society.
“We are very grateful to the Federal Government for reaching out to the most vulnerable in our state at this time. Specifically, we thank the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development for the gesture. We assure Mr President that the palliatives will be delivered to the intended beneficiaries as we have been doing,” Jibril said.
The Team Leader from Abuja, Dr Abubakar Suleiman, said the palliatives “are being shared to the states on the order of Mr President for distribution to vulnerable groups in this time of global pandemic”.
The Abia State government on Sunday acknowledged receipt of 1,800 bags of rice from the Federal Government.
The government, last week, decried lack of support from Abuja in its fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement by Onyebuchi Ememanka, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, quoted the governor as saying that the supplies would be examined to ascertain their wholesomeness.
The statement added that the state government would brief the residents on the modalities for the distribution of the items.
“On the distribution of palliatives, the governor ordered the Secretary to Government (SSG) to expand the membership of the committee to include transition committee chairmen of local government areas, all honourable commissioners, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), traditional rulers, civil society organisations (CSOs), women journalists, presidents general of town unions and development associations, among others.”
The Godwin Obaseki administration accepted the Federal Government’s palliatives to cushion the effects of COVID-19.
The bags of rice were delivered through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to the state government’s food bank in Benin, the state capital.
Special Adviser to Edo State Governor on Special Duties, Yakubu Gowon, spoke while inspecting the items yesterday in Benin.
He said: “The next step will be that a representative of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, will be in Edo State to officially hand over the food items to the state government.”
