Nkrumah Bankong-Obi/Lafia
The Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule has commenced the distribution of palliatives in the Karu Local Council of the State. “As you are aware, we are here to flagoff the sharing of palliatives as a result of the suffering caused the removal of subsidy on petrol. As I have said, the Federal government is giving us N5billion naira. We have started receiving the money and some will come in the form of grains. This is is what we are here to do,” Sule said to an ecstatic crowd.
The governor who announced that traditional rulers, religious leaders and government officials are working together to ensure the smooth distribution of the items, charged them to be effective during the exercise by getting the items to those who are in most need of them.
He also used the opportunity to announce other measures that his government is adopting to bolster the individual and state economy, hence reduce the downside impact of the subsidy removal “I heard when the chairman [of Karu LGA] said there are no civil servants and pensioners among the beneficiaries. That is your arrangement, we don’t interfere with local arrangements. But as for civil servants, they have not yet received. What we said, let me correct the impression, is that civil servants both at the State and local levels are going to be given ten thousand naira for the next six months.
That is part of the palliative that we are giving. We also said that pensioners are going to be given five thousand naira a month both at the State and local government level, for the next six months. This is in addition to other palliatives that we are providing, including buses – about ten of them, that will be able to drive on CNG and are going to charge reduced transport fares.”
In his address, the Chairman of Karu LGA, James Thomas, assured that governor that his team will work hard to ensure that the aid arrives at the doorsteps of those who need it most. This he said, is because “it is even a curse for you as a leader to divert that which is meant for the most vulnerable. The curse is going to come from behind. We have sung this song to our people, to our leaders and by the grace of God, the modalities that we are going to use will go down to the polling units.
Meanwhile, Governor Sule has called on the Department of State Security, DSS, to ensure that racket rings that divert items to ameliorate the pain of victims of disaster, are caught and brought to book. The governor said this via a press statement signed by Peter Ahember, his senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs.
“Engr Abdullahi A. Sule as Chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum is poised to support the DSS in casting it’s net widely and getting to the root of the activities of this nefarious syndicate, so that those found wanting are meant to face the full wrath of the law, no matter how highly placed,” adding that it is regrettable that while the Federal and State governments work towards providing succour for the afflicted, other people hijacked the items provided for the purpose.
It will be recalled that the DSS announced the arrest of several individuals in connection with stealing interventionist items provided by the government for flood victims in the State.