Osun

Adeleke Giving FG Palliative To PDP Members For Eid-El-Kabir, Osun APC Alleges

ByYusuf Oketola

PublishedJune 14, 2024

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has challenged Governor Ademola Adeleke to come out clean with the recurring issue of the Federal Government’s rice palliative.

According to the APC, Adeleke has allegedly fraudulently converted the rice into a means of political patronage for the Peoples Democratic Party.

The State Chairman of the APC, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement issued by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, claimed that the Federal Government sent many trailer-loads of rice and grains to Osun State government for distribution to the poorest of the poor in the state, to reduce the biting effects of the removal of the fuel subsidy since last year.

Lawal noted that instead of distributing the rice to meet the immediate needs of the people, Adeleke decided to warehouse the trailer-loads of rice and later re-bagged and re-branded them to depict that the rice were being provided by the Adeleke government.

The party said information has it that the PDP has started the distribution of the rice as Eid-eil-Kabir gifts to only members of the party, instead of making it available to all the residents of the state without religious or political consideration.

READ: NGO Speaks To Osun Residents On Abandonment Of Female Genital Mutilation

Lawal queried why Adeleke was reluctant to come out clean with the issue of the Federal Government’s rice palliatives meant for the people of the state.

He said: “What we are talking about is about the common patrimony of the state which the people of the state are entitled to know the formula for its appropriation in the interest of fairness, accountability and probity in the public office.

“It will not be out of tune for the people of the state to know how many bags of rice were distributed and who were the beneficiaries

“It will also interest the people to know if the government of Adeleke had truly bought additional bags of rice to supplement the Federal Government own and at what cost.

“It is only when these questions are answered diligently that the governed would be convinced that there have not been sharp practices by the government on the recurring issue of the Federal Government palliative rice.

“Will it be fair to distribute the Federal Government palliative rice to only the members of the PDP when it wasn’t the only the party members who voted in the governor as the state Chief executive?

“We, as a party, won’t allow Governor Adeleke to rest until he gives proper account of the Federal Government palliative rice. We won’t allow him to shortchange the people of the state.”