‘Rice Palliatives’ – Opposition Using Media To Destroy Abiodun Govt’s Image – APC

The Ogun State Government and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have gone head-to-head over the controversies surrounding the distribution of rice palliatives in the state.

The Publisher Nigeria  reports that in a recent viral video, an aged man who identified himself as the Chairman of Shokeye CDA, rejected the 10kg bag of rice given to his community by the state government.

The man claimed that the Ogun government gave his community which comprised 147 houses a 10 kg bag of rice as palliative.

He described the palliative as “insulting”, adding that they are not beggars.

Reacting, the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government blamed the opposition for the video.

Speaking via a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Lekan Adeniran, the government claimed that the opposition was trying to discredit Abiodun’s administration.

They insisted that some agents had resorted to media blackmail.

The Abiodun government noted that the Federal Government has stated unambiguously that the palliative was meant for only the most vulnerable in the society.

“Let it be recalled that Governor Abiodun made it clear to everybody involved in sharing the palliatives that it must get to the intended beneficiaries.

“But in spite of the painstaking effort of the government in to ensure that the palliatives get to the right beneficiaries promptly, some people are unrelenting in their bids to tar the administration with negative brushes for reasons not beyond politics.

“This explains the case of the man in a recent video who claims to be a Community Development Association chairman somewhere in the state. Taking to social media and throwing cautions to the wind, he betrayed the posture of a man out to do mischief so as to score cheap political gains,” the government said.

However, the PDP, in a swift reaction, said they were shocked that the government would blame the opposition for the video.

Speaking via a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Akinloye Bankole, PDP stated that it was sad that the party would accuse them of blackmail.

Bankole said that they had hoped that the APC government “would have outgrown its trademark of serial failure and irresponsibility”

“For the umpteenth time, the statewide rejection of the palliative by members of CDs remains a valid confirmation of how unpopular the government has become over the years,” he said.

The PDP spokesman described the “poor implementation” of the palliatives distribution as “a brazen insult” to the sensibilities of the people of Ogun State.