Metro
COVID-19: Ondo, Ekiti deny returning FG’s bags of rice
Ondo and Ekiti state governments Monday debunked the rumour making the rounds that they returned over 1000 bags of rice donated to the states by the federal government as palliative to cushion the effect of the stay-at-home order.
The bags of rice were supplied by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Ekiti State Coordinator of the COVID-19 Task Force and Director General, Office of Strategic Transformation and Delivery, Bolaji Aluko, revealed this in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
“We have not rejected or returned any rice to the federal government,” Mr Aluko said while dismissing speculations that some of the bags of rice were returned because they were expired, he said.
While denying the rumour, the Ondo State Food Palliative Committee in a statement on Monday, said the news should be disregarded.
“It is pertinent to react to the publication in some national newspapers that the Ondo State Government has rejected the bags of rice supplied to it by the federal government.
“For the records, the story is untrue and sensational.
“At no time did the state governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, instruct that the rice meant to assist the state to combat food insecurity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic be rejected and returned to Abuja,” he said.
“The committee indeed drew the attention of Mr Governor to this and pleaded for proper guidance.
“While awaiting the thoughts of Mr Governor, the committee members met and decided to carry out a comprehensive inspection to ascertain how many bags have been affected on account of storage.
“We discovered that less than 10 percent of the lot falls into this category, and subsequently separated the few bags,” he explained.
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“The state is rather deeply appreciative of the Federal Government for standing by it in this trying time and very optimistic that the support will further cushion the effects of hunger on our people.
He charged journalists to ensure that news reports were verified before publication.
Recall that the Oyo State Government had rejected the 1,800 bags of rice donated by the federal government after it said its inspection revealed they were unfit for human consumption.
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