The majority members of the National Assembly have been granted a reprieve. Previously, they were subject to public criticism regarding the disputed rice palliatives provided by the Federal Government to lawmakers for distribution to their individual communities.
Since the plan was made public and they were not given any palliative care, some constituents had grown unhappy.
Nonetheless, bills of amount have begun to be issued by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to a chosen group of contractors who will handle the procurement process in order to distribute the palliatives to senatorial districts and federal constituencies throughout the nation.
According to the bill of quantities, the palliative is packaged in a polypropylene/laminated bag and contains “62 parboiled long grain rice with golden standard e Enriched with vitamins – and minerals e Free from fat e; Stone free e, Not contaminated in any way.”
Remember that the controversy surrounding the Federal Government’s palliative began when Hon. Dekeri Anamer, an Edo State representative in the House of Representatives, instructed his followers to demand on social media that their representatives and senators reveal the location of the rice bags that President Bola Tinubu approved for each of the 360 House members and 109 Senators.
Due to the problem caused by the prolonged procurement procedure, members of the Senate and House of Representatives were wrongly accused of failing to provide the products that the majority of their constituents had been waiting for.
Speaking with journalists, a few of the contractors stated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s action will assist ease tensions, rectify persistent misinformation, and guarantee that the long-standing concerns of numerous constituents who have not received their palliatives be taken care of.
Since the Edo lawmaker made the N300 million palliatives public, there has been a great deal of debate and misunderstanding in the political community.
Claims that each member of the Senate had received palliative care for their people from the federal government were refuted by the Senate.
Yemi Adaramodu, the chairman of the Senate’s media and public affairs committee, stated that he has not yet received any consoling supplies from the federal government.
Akin Rotimi, the spokeswoman for the House of Representatives, refuted the allegations in a similar manner, stating that no politician had received any funding for palliative care and that the procurement process varied based on the constituency.
Olusegun Dada, President Bola Tinubu’s personal assistant on social media, verified the delivery of palliative items valued at N200 million to senators and N100 million to members of the House of Representatives on his official X profile.
Once more, the House declared that there was nothing missing from the rice palliative that President Tinubu had given to members to give to their citizens.
Target recipients of the President’s palliative care are facing delays, which the deputy spokesperson for the House, Philip Agbese, attributed to bureaucratic bottlenecks at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in a conversation with reporters.
“Yes, the President gave legislators palliatives via the Ministry of Agriculture,” he stated. It is acknowledged by legislators that they anticipate the rice. Because of the continuous bureaucratic process in the ministry, some people have received the rice, while others have not.
“I believe the Ministry of Agriculture has its own contractors, and some lawmakers have received them, but not everyone has because of the differences in distance between states or constituencies.”
