Osun Govt, APC, Bicker Over FG Palliative Rice

The Osun State Government and the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), have been at loggerheads over the federal government food palliatives.

The APC had accused the PDP-led administration, under the leadership of Governor Ademola Adeleke, of rebagging the palliative rice donated to the state by the Federal Government to cushion the effects of the removal of fuel subsidy on the citizenry.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the party’s Chairman, Tajudeeen Lawal, through its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi in Osogbo, the APC said it had it on good authority that the state government took delivery of trailers loaded with bags of rice branded in the name of the Federal Government in the Ministry of Agriculture, State Government Secretariat, Abere, and are being re-branded to Osun State Government.

It further alleged that the state government rebranded the rice at a secret location in the state ministry with the photograph of Governor Adeleke inscribed on it, in order to give a false impression that the palliative items were provided by his administration, calling it a criminal act.

According to the statement: “Is it fair or justifiable for a state government to corner the palliatives meant for the people and pretend as if it is the state that is providing it?

“What informs the choice of Governor Adeleke to order that the palliative rice should be re-branded with the inscription of his photograph and name on it?

“There cannot be any other name for this action other than official fraud.

“It is our resolve as a party that the trailer-loads of palliative rice sent by the APC-led administration at the Federal level should not be used by Governor Adeleke to play dirty politics to the disadvantage of the opposition”, the statement stated.

Reacting to the development, the Commissioner of Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, described the allegation as another manifestation of the opposition’s desperation.

According to the Commissioner, “The federal rice palliatives are just coming into the state and none of it was re-bagged.

“The delivery is still ongoing, and they are in safekeeping as they are delivered. The government has already activated its structure for sharing the federal palliative to reach all strata of the society.

“The government, however, deems the supply from the central government insufficient, hence its decision to buy more trucks of rice for distribution to the population.

“The rice purchased by the state, which is also being delivered, is however branded, and they is also due for sharing very soon. What is branded are the state’s rice, not federal palliative , the delivery of which is still ongoing.

“We challenge the APC leadership to come to the State stores for verification. Sooko Tajudeen Lawal and his team of fake news merchants will, after inspection, see the futility of lying to mislead the public.

“The present administration is committed to due process, rule of law, transparency and accountability for the delivery of good governance. Members of the public should ignore the rantings of an opposition in search of political direction.

OSUN DEFENDER, however, recalls that the immediate former governor of Osun State and the Minister of Blue and Marine Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, who received the federal government’s palliative rice, only shared it with his faction of the APC during the recent 2024 Eid-el-Fitr celebrations and the festive season in December.