By Shina Abubakar
THE Center for Responsive Governance, CRG, and the Osun State Government, yesterday, engaged in a war of words over the delay in the distribution of subsidy palliative given to the state by the Federal Government.
While the state government, in a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, stated that it is waiting for the palliative package before distribution, the CRG, on its part, in a statement by its Coordinator, Ayo Ologun, said the situation the masses are in deserve pro-activeness.
Kolapo, while admitting that the state government received 2,400 bags of 50kg rice, said apart from waiting for the outstanding 600 bags, it is also waiting for a second batch of palliative before embarking on distribution.
He said: “We, hereby, wish to inform you that the second batch of federal government food palliative distribution is poised to commence as soon as possible, and you are scheduled to receive 14,516 bags of 50kg rice and 3,200MT of maize.
“The state government wants to ensure full delivery before launching out on the distribution. We assure the public of transparency and accountability in the sharing of the foodstuffs to the citizenry.”
But in his reaction, Ologun said the state government should not wait for delivery before alleviating suffering among the masses.
The statement reads: “I believe that the time we are in deserves pro-activeness and for no reason should the state government waits for the complete delivery before disbursement.
“Once the committee to see to the sharing is in place and the groups to be distributed have been determined, sharing should commence to avoid pressure and agitation by the people as we saw during the EndSARS saga.
“The people are angry and agitated and they deserve what has been allocated to them without any further delay.”
Source: Vanguard
