From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The Inter Party Advisory Council in Osun State has urged the state Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke not to play politics with the distribution of palliatives to the people of the state.
The Federal Government had approved #5Billion for each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to enable them procure food items for distribution to the poor in their respective states.
In addition to the fund, the Federal Government also released five trucks of rice each to the 36 states.
Also, Osun State government has announced that it received five trailer load of rice with other items sent by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration as Osun State government shares of the palliatives to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.
In a statement signed by the IPAC helmsman in the state, Wale Adebayo in Osogbo, the group said Governor Adeleke was voted into office by the credibility of the people to address their concerns, and therefore beseeched him not to play politics with the distribution of FG’s palliatives to the state.
Adebayo said “the state government has been rather slow in announcing its own palliatives to the state. The plight of the less privileged and the vulnerable shouldn’t be compounded by this unnecessary delay in the distribution of the items from Abuja.
“What the Federal Government has done are commendable efforts to stem the hunger and hardship experienced by Nigerians as a result of fuel subsidy removal. We want our state too to do more as the good people of Osun State have so much trust in them to deliver.
“Much still need to be done by Gov. Adeleke’s administration to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy like our surrounding states”
“Huge resources have been made available to him due to increased revenue from federal government allocation. The least we want from him is to avoid playing politics with the welfare of the people”, Adebayo added.
He stated that Osun is perhaps the only state with no clear modalities for palliatives to civil servants, artisans and the masses. Neighbouring states have been dishing out top notch programmes in their respective domain to cushion the effect of removal of subsidy.
“Ogun, Oyo , Ondo, Lagos and Ekiti have all announced measures to get reprieve from the current harsh economic realities,” he added.