From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State has accused the officials of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in the state of diversion of palliatives provided by the Federal Government.
They called for an independent investigation and prosecution of the culprits failure of which it would take legal action.
A statement issued by the state party chairman Abdullahi Abbas on Saturday said the failure of the state government to take necessary action against the officials might be interpreted as a tacit support of the alleged act.
He said it was unfortunate that last week, hundreds of bags of rice labeled “Federal Government Food Security Programme” were discovered at a private school owned by a top Government House official.
Abbas insisted that no convincing argument was put forward on how the bags of rice which formed part of the grains donated to the Kano State government to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal among the poor and vulnerable residents were found in the private residence turned Islamiyya school.
He said that some suspects were found repackaging the rice and maize at a warehouse located in Sharada, and were subsequently arrested with a promise to drag them to court.
Abbas alleged that the state government was in the habit of rebranding and repackaging some parts of the grains they wanted to distribute, mostly to their members with the picture of the governor and logo of the NNPP.
The party chair noted that in September, last year, the Managing Director of the state Agricultural Supply Company (KASCO), Dr. Tukur Dayyabu Minjibir was suspended for alleged involvement in an inappropriate sale of grains belonging to the Kano State government.
“It is, therefore, very important that the Kano State government should not stop at suspension or investigation. All actions taken should be concluded by prosecuting all those found to have been involved in those scandals to serve as deterrent,” he said.
Abbas alleged that recently, the Tinubu administration sent 70 trucks of fertilizer, seedlings and other inputs for free distribution to farmers in Kano, but the state government claimed the credit as if it procured the products and was said to have been sold to farmers at N5, 000 per bag.
The party chairman described the actions of the NNPP government as a deliberate attempt to rubbish the effort of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in supporting the people during this trying period.
“At different times, the Federal Government donated truckloads of grains to the Kano State government for distribution to the needy, but apart from symbolic official launch, these interventions have not been felt in the larger society,” the statement said.
It added: “To our knowledge, Kano State government received 100 trucks of rice, 44 trucks of sorghum, and four trucks of maize. It was also apportioned 969 metric tons of maize, 1,320 metric tons of sorghum, and 417 metric tons of millet, to be distributed equitably across all local government areas. Just recently, 20 trucks of rice were also given to Kano state.”
The chairman observed that it was unfortunate the people had yet to see the impact of those efforts of President Tinubu in Kano State as evidenced in the level of frustration and expression of anger against the government.