Governor Abdullahi Sule, during the distribution of the palliative.
• House of Assembly sets up committee to investigate alleged diversion
Cecilia Onah, Lafia
Following the ongoing distribution of the Federal Government palliative across the nation, Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has distributed 50kg bags of rice each to 3,100 beneficiaries in Awe, Keana and Obi Local Government Areas of the state.
Sule also presented N5,000 to each of the beneficiaries across the three LGAs in order to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal on the people.
Speaking during the distribution exercise on Tuesday, the governor said, “This is a continuation of the distribution we have carried out in other local government areas of the state and these palliative are in many forms. Just yesterday, we gave the approval that all civil servants; both at the state and the local government areas should receive N10,000 as their palliative.
“In addition, we said that all our pensioners both at the state and local government levels will begin to receive N5,000 each, which will last for six months.
“We also have an ongoing programme of the social investment programme called “Kudin AA Sule”, which we have been distributing to beneficiaries every month.
“We are resuming that distribution today and have increased the number of beneficiaries. This is aimed at cushioning the effects of this hardship that is being created as a result of the fuel subsidy removal.”
While assuring that the state would distribute more palliative in the coming days, Governor Sule urged the people who were not captured in the first round of the distribution to exercise patience, adding that all residents of the state will benefit from the FG’s gesture.
In her remarks, Commissioner,
Ministry for Special Duties, Humanitarian,
Social Services and Non Governmental Organisations, Princess Margaret Elayo, expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu and Governor Abdullahi Sule for their commitment and dedication to the welfare of the people of this state.
Elayo said the state had made progress in the distribution of the palliative in several local government areas as well as development areas and also learnt valuable lessons during the exercise.
She further assured that the state government was committed to addressing the areas that required improvement to ensure that palliative were distributed to the targeted beneficiaries.
On their parts, the Emir of Awe, Alhaji Isa Abubakar Umar III, the Osana of Keana, Alhaji Abdullahi Amegwa Agbo III, and the Zhe Migili, Dr Ayuba Agwadu, who spoke separately, all appreciated the federal government for the gesture and cautioned the beneficiaries against selling the palliative.
It would be recalled that the federal government had approved the sum of N5 billion to each states of the federation to reduce the hardship being faced by the citizens following the removal of petroleum subsidy.
• Nasarawa Assembly sets up committee to investigate alleged diversion of palliative
The Nasarawa State House of Assembly on Tuesday, set up a 7 man committee to investigate the alleged diversion of palliative by government officials and stakeholders in the state.
The House said the committee is to ensure that all those involved in diverting palliative meant for the poor are punished according to the laws of the land.
The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Ibrahim Abdullahi, set up the committee under matters of public interest brought by Hon. Musa Ibrahim Abubakar ( NNPP- Doma South) during the House proceedings in Lafia.
According to him, the 7 man committee are Hon. Abel Bala, the Deputy Speaker of the House as Chairman, Hon. Musa Ibrahim, Hon Barr Esson Mairiga, Hon Hajara Danyaro, Hon Luka Zhekaba, the Minority Leader of the House, Hon Daniel Ogazi and Hon Danladi Jatau as members of the committee and the Secretary of the committee is Barr. Safiya Balarabe.
The Speaker gave the committee three weeks to do a thorough investigation and report back its findings to the House for appropriate action.
He said, “I will give you three weeks to do your work and report back to the House and all those involved must be invited at the committee level.
“It is sad and very disappointing that some people are sabotaging the good intention of Mr President and Governor Abdullahi Sule in alleviating the suffering of the poor people.
“The purpose of the palliative is to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal. I don’t know why some people diverted most of the palliative for their personal use and their families.”
The Speaker alleged that most of the palliative, especially rice were sold to traders in market places across the state, and urged the committee to do a thorough job in order to punish those diverting the items.
In their separate contributions, Hon. Danladi Jatau, Hon. Solomon Akwashiki, Hon. Hajara Danyaro and Hon Musa Saidu, all supported the idea of setting up the committee to unravel the alleged diversion of the palliative meant for the poor residents of the state.
Earlier, the member representing Doma South Constituency, Hon. Musa Ibrahim Abubakar, while raising the issue, lamented that the palliative meant for the poor people in Doma LGA were being diverted by those involved in the distribution.
He appealed to the Speaker and other members of the House to support him by setting up a committee to investigate the alleged diversion of the palliative.
