The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has warned all the state governors in Nigeria, against hoarding the N5b subsidy removal palliative meant to be distributed to the people, in warehouses.
CACOL disclosed while reacting to the N5b palliative recently signed by President Bola Tinubu, to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on the masses, through a statement issued by its Director of Administration and Programmes, Tola Oresanwo, on behalf of the Chairman, Debo Adeniran, urged the governors to ensure prudence and fairness in the distribution of palliatives disbursed to them by the federal government.
The group however, commended President Bola Tinubu’s administration, for the approval of N180bn as palliatives for the 36 states of the federation, and the Federal Capital Territory.
CACOL added that governors must distribute the palliatives judiciously to cater for the masses, who are feeling the pains of fuel subsidy removal in the country.
The federal government had recently released N5bn for each state to enable the state governments to procure 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize, and fertilizers to cushion the effect of food shortage across the country.
Reacting, the group said, “We would like to commend the federal government for at least heeding numerous outcries from various quarters calling for palliatives to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on the people.
“This administration has shown that it is feeling the pulse of the people by approving 180bn as palliatives to be shared among the states in the country.”
The organization further stated that the ugly situations in which the governors hoarded palliatives from the masses during the COVID era in 2022, should not be repeated during this time.
“We are however sceptical about the capabilities of some governors to deliver or disburse these palliatives to those they were intended, going by the happenings in the past. We are all living witnesses to the way and manner some foodstuffs that were meant to serve as palliatives for Nigerians were locked up in warehouses across the country by some greedy and selfish people in power at the detriment of pauperised, traumatised and famished Nigerians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We would also want to call on the state governors to ensure judicious disbursement of the palliatives both in cash and kind.
“They should ensure that these palliatives do not end in the pockets of the few powerful individuals in their various states. The people of the state should feel the impacts of these palliatives no matter how small,” the group warned.
The group however urged the Nigerian people to monitor the event of the effective distribution of the palliatives.
“We also want to use this medium to call on our people to monitor the disbursement of these palliatives in their various states to ensure that foodstuffs and other commodities meant for the people are not cornered by politicians,” CACOL advised.
