Subsidy: States begin sharing of palliatives

• Ogun constitutes committee • Group urges South East govs to avoid discrimination

Bayelsa, Osun, Ogun, Oyo Borno and Ekiti state governments have reiterated resolve to ensure palliatives received from the Federal Government reach the intended beneficiaries.

The Federal Government recently announced release of a N180 billion palliative package to states to cushion the impact of the fuel subsidy removal. Under the arrangement, each state was expected to get N5 billion and 180 trucks of rice, as part of measures to address the pains of the subsidy removal on petrol on Nigerians.

While Ondo State government was not forthcoming on information on the receipt of the Federal Government palliatives, Borno, Bayelsa, Osun and Ekiti governments confirmed receiving the first tranche.

After the Sunday night invasion of a warehouse owned by Senator Friday Konbowei Benson by residents of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State government has commenced sharing of palliatives stored at the Bayelsa Palm warehouse.

 Bayelsa State Emergency Management Agency (BYSEMA) through its Director-General, Mr. Samuel Walaman Igrubia, had explained that people invaded the warehouse located along Isaac Boro Expressway with the erroneous belief that fresh palliatives were housed there. According to him the food items looted were not fit for human consumption hence those who took them should not attempt to consume them.

 However, residents of Yenagoa had taken BYSEMA’s clarification with a pinch of salt as they besieged the Senator’s Benson warehouse  on Monday evening forcing government to deploy the state security outfit, Operation Doo Akpo to safeguard the warehouse.

 Investigations indicated that the palliatives were being shared on the basis of constituencies from each local government area.  A source who is aware of the palliatives said the sharing was being supervised by NEMA and BYSEMA officials.  

In Ogun State, a 29-member Central Working Committee (CWC), headed by the Deputy Governor, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele, saddled with the mandate for the distribution of palliatives has been constituted by Governor Dapo Abiodun.

The composition of the Committee is aimed at ensuring the palliatives reached every strata of the society, in line with the promise made to the people by the governor.

A statement by the governor’s media aide, Mr Lekan Adeniran, noted that there would be a similar committee at the local governments to ensure a seamless distribution.

The Committee which has the mandate to implement the various palliatives put in place by the state government for the citizens would hold its inaugural meeting today.

Oyo State Government said it would commence distribution of food palliatives to residents deemed the “poorest of the poor” from today.

Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Budget and Planning, Prof Musibaudeen Babatunde and Community for Women Affairs, Mrs Toyin Balogun, made the disclosure during a press conference in Ibadan the state capital, on Tuesday.

According to them, each vulnerable household would receive a 10 kilogramme bag of rice and a five kilogrammes bag of beans. They disclosed that 200,000 households would benefit from the food palliatives distribution.

Asked about the methodology of choosing the households for the palliatives, Commissioners for Information and Budget stated that the data they would use was generated from COVID-19, as it was the most reliable data available currently.

The date, according to them,  would be used as a baseline template, and future revisions would occur based on the feedbacks they received from the first phase of the palliative programme.

In Osun, government said it had received N2 billion out of the N5 billion Federal Government’s palliatives to the state.

Mr. Kolapo Alimi, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, said the template and modalities of payment would soon be made public by the Palliative Committee.

The government through its palliative committee and the Ministry of Special Duties and Regional Integration began distribution, yesterday. He said the mode of sharing had been finalised by the committee, adding that beneficiaries would begin to receive the rice palliatives according to the time-table prepared to capture everyone.

Kolapo said 5,700 bags  of 50kg of  rice would be distributed – 3,000 of 50kg bags of rice from the first batch of palliatives and 2,700 of 50kg bags of rice from the 14,000 second batch.

He said the state was still expecting 11,300 bags of 50kg rice and 3,000 metric tonnes of maize.

Investigation also reveals that distribution has begun in Ekiti.

Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade, who doubles as chairman of the Palliative Distribution Committee, said the sharing began last Wednesday.

He said the Federal Government delivered 3,000 bags of grains of which 18 bags were spoilt, leaving only 2,982 for distribution to the public, particularly the vulnerable and less privileged.He government had distributed an appreciable number of the palliatives to residents in the 177 wards of the state.

Giving an insight to the criteria and mode of distribution, Boluwade said “each of the 177 wards of the state got 10 bags of rice each. Part of the criteria was that we must prioritise widows and women in the wards. We also specially allocated 100 bags for widows. All the artisans in the private sector shared 200 bags of rice while the transport unions got 180 bags. All the market women in Ekiti state were allocated 100 bags. Persons with disabilities got 150 bags. The elderly, that is, pensioners, got 100 bags. Civil servants, including the junior staff members, also got 100 bags.”

In Borno State, Governor Babagana Zulum announced the release of the palliative at the end of the 135th National Economic Council meeting, presided over by Vice-President Kashim Shettima in Abuja.

He disclosed that the N5 billion was to enable state governments procure 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize and fertilizers, to cushion the effect of food shortage across the country.

He added that considering the urgency in meeting the need to mitigate the skyrocketing food prices across the country, the Federal Government had last week released five trucks of rice to each state of the federation.

Meanwhile, the Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), has urged governors in the region to avoid discrimination in the distribution of the post-subsidy removal palliatives to the poor and vulnerable.

President-General of the group,  Chief Goodluck Ibem, in a statement, also urged the governors to ensure timely distribution of the palliatives.

He said that the essence of the palliatives is to cushion the effects of the removal of the petrol subsidy on the people and not to empower their political followers.

“We are saying that the governors should ensure that the palliatives get to the right people, and not to their political loyalists. It is unfair to delay the distribution process, give the palliative to the people when they need it, and when it will be of benefit to them.”

Ibem urged the governors of the region to devise reliable means of identifying the poor and vulnerable people in their respective states. He said that the funds expended on the palliatives would be a waste if the items failed to reach the right people.