Kwara PDP Demands Explanation Of Lawmakers On FG Palliative Rice Meants For Citizens

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kwara State chapter in a statement issued on Sunday asked the National Assembly members representing the state to give an account of the palliative rice reportedly given to them by the Federal Government to distribute to the vulnerable citizens as part of a measure to ameliorate suffering emanated from fuel subsidy removal.

The statement issued by the Publicity Secretary of the opposition party, PDP, Mr. Olusegun Olusola Adewara (Sholyments), read and quoted “We condemned in strong terms, the unfortunate alleged diversion and sale of trailers load of federal government rice intervention intended for distribution to the people of various constituencies in Kwara State by the nine members of the 10th National Assembly.

“We highlighted a viral video featuring one Honourable Dekeri Anamero, House of Representative member representing Etsako Federal constituency of Edo State, where he claimed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu provided each National Assembly member with at least two trailers of rice for distribution in their various constituencies.

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“The PDP in reaction to the said video queried all the National assembly members from Kwara, calling them to speak up on the whereabouts of the people’s rice in their domains, noting that it would be a shock of the century if the insinuation that all of them secretly sold the rice to commercial dealers in Abuja thinking nobody will be aware at home.

“The concerned legislators who are all APC members include Senator Salihu Mustapha of Kwara Central, Oyelola Ashiru of Kwara South, and Senator Suleiman Sadiq Umar of Kwara North. Also, members of the lower chamber include Raheem Tunji Olawuyi Ajuloopin, Ismail Kayode Tijani, Ahmed Yinka Aluko, Tolani Shagaya, Adam Ahmed Saba, and Mohammed Omar Bio respectively.

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“The PDP in Kwara State, having patiently awaited responses from these implicated APC legislators, noted with concern their continued silence which is no longer golden. Their unfortunate silence raises suspicions of compromise, suggesting that the allocated rice intended for the people of Kwara may have been diverted and sold to commercial rice dealers in Abuja for their gain.

“Based on the video made by Honorable Dekeri, each legislator is said to have received a minimum of 2,400 bags of rice. Given the current market price of N54,000 per 50kg bag, this implies that each Kwara legislator may have secretly pocketed one hundred and thirty million naira (#130,000,000) while the nine of them have pocketed about N1.2bn. Should this allegation turn out to be true, it will be an unfortunate betrayal of public trust.

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“Amidst the hardships the people are made to experience under APC governance, it is disheartening that items intended to alleviate such challenges are allegedly converted to monetary gains by those entrusted with the people’s mandate.

“The Kwara PDP called for immediate explanations from the implicated APC legislators and demanded transparency in accounting for the federal government’s rice intervention. The Party remains committed to upholding the principles of accountability, integrity, and service to the people.”