COVID-19: Oyo makes u-turn on FG's palliative, says rice has been infested with weevils
- Oyo state has made a U-turn on the quality of palliatives received from the Nigerian federal government
- Dr. Debo Akande, the executive assistant to the governor on Agricbusiness, stated that the items sent by the FG were not in a good condition
- Akande further said that the 1,800 bags of rice have already been infested with weevils
The Oyo state government on Friday, April 24, made a U-turn on the quality of palliatives received from the federal government and declared that the items are in bad condition, The Nation reports.
Legit.ng gathered that the southwest state a few days ago had attested to the items that were delivered to the state through the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Monday, April 20.
Dr. Debo Akande, the executive assistant to the governor on Agricbusiness disclosed this after taking newsmen round the warehouse where the donated were stored.
Akande said the three trailer loads of rice totaling 1,800 bags have been infested with weevil and cannot be consumed by humans.
The state government noted it would be expecting a replacement for the bad rice that was delivered.
Source: Twitter
According to the governor's executive assistant, after random testing and inspection, it was discovered that only the bags of rice received from the federal government were found to be infested.
He assured that all the other items are in good condition and safe custody. He said: “We received these items from the Federal Government via the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and we brought them to the warehouse and it is in the process of further inspection that we discovered that almost all the rice has been infested with weevils and some other materials and on that basis, we formed a committee to re-inspect it again and so that can be definitely sure of what we have received.
“We think this is not definitely in the position for consumption for a human being at this point in time and at such the materials cannot be distributed as parts o palliatives within the state."
Akande went on to note that all the bags of rice received from the federal government would be returned and if there is any replacement that could be sent Oyo state would gladly receive it.
He said: “We are returning everything because we have checked all and in fact, we assume initially that it was just some part of it that was infested but we came today with about six commissioners from different ministries who came along with me and we have checked and we have realized that it was not just some but quite a lot of them that have been infested.”
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari approved that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) release 150 truckloads of rice seized from smugglers to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
This information was disclosed in a tweet from the federal government's Twitter handle on Tuesday, April 7. Legit.ng gathered that this is part of the government's palliative measures to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic for Nigerians.
Similarly, President Buhari has been urged by Nigerian governors to reform the mode of distribution of palliatives to vulnerable Nigerians affected by the coronavirus impact.
This was disclosed by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti state who also serves as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) during a teleconference with the president on Tuesday, April 14.
Fayemi during the online meeting briefed Buhari on how the distribution of palliatives to vulnerable persons was limited.
In other news, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, advised President Muhammadu Buhari on how to sustain the economy and save citizens from hunger as the coronavirus lockdown bites harder on Nigerians.
Tinubu advocated an economic relief package in the form of emergency sustenance payments to vulnerable Nigerians.
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Source: Legit.ng
