Amid the 10-day hardship protest, the minister for Niger Delta Development, Abubakar Momoh, has accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State of re-bagging food items from the federal government to give the impression that the state government sponsored such relief materials for the people of the state.
On Wednesday morning, August 7, the minister appeared in a broadcast on Channels TV, and addressed the circulating claims that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had failed to deliver on his promise to distribute 20 trucks of rice to some states including Edo, to cushion the effects of food inflation in the country.
The minister denied this claim, saying that any state government insisting he had not received his share of the relief items was lying, SaharaReporters confirmed.
Speaking further, Momoh, an indigene of Edo State, said he watched on television how protesters broke into some warehouses and looted bags of rice which some state governors refused to share to the masses.
Although he did not mention the affected states, protesters recently looted bags of rice in a warehouse in Edo....[CONTINUE READING HERE ▶▶]
He expressed anger that Obaseki, while addressing protesters recently, reportedly said he would take their message to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Daily Trust reported.
The minister said:
“I think any governor that says that he has not received 20 trucks of rice is not being fair.
“We expect such a governor to address the problems in Edo State. But rather what he does is that if the government brings relief like this, he repacks them and puts his name. We saw what happened during COVID-19 and that is something that is happening today.”
Reacting, the special adviser to the Edo state governor on media, Crusoe Osagie, in statement berated Momoh for “attempting to mislead the public” on the state government’s feeding programme.
