FG rice can’t solve hunger problem – Edo

The Edo State government, on Wednesday, said it received some trucks of rice from the Federal Government early this year but described them as a drop in the ocean.

“Twenty trucks of rice? We are close to seven million people in Edo State. How does that help?”Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, queried on Wednesday.

Nehikhare, who addressed a press conference in Benin on Wednesday, said the clarification followed the insistence by the state All Progressives Congress, former governor Adams Oshiomhole and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Abubakar Momoh, that Edo State collected truckloads of rice from the Federal Government.

The commissioner said, “On the issue of the Federal Government giving us rice, I will tell you, a few months ago, maybe early this year or late last year or mid-this year, they brought some few trucks of rice.

“They (the rice) were distributed according to the formula which they sent to us. The rice went to IDP camps, to different people, to orphanage homes. You people should do the investigation.

“Edo State Government did not touch one of them. It went straight to the local government and then to where it was designed to be given out. The Edo State Government does not keep rice.

“So if a misguided minister in Abuja is echoing the voice of propaganda of Edo State APC talking about rice, let them know that we have spent N2.2bn to feed our people. Twenty trucks of rice? We are close to seven million people in Edo State. How does that help?”

Nehikhare alleged that PDP had uncovered a plot by the APC to cause civil unrest in Edo State ahead of the September 21 governorship election.

“Our attention has been drawn to plans by the APC to orchestrate civil unrest and cause mayhem in the state under the guise of protests and rallies to advance their obnoxious political agenda.

“The APC is resorting to this devious plan because they have realised the folly of presenting an unlettered and incompetent candidate for the office of a governor.

“Their candidate, Monday Okpebholo, has continued to embarrass the party and his handlers in private and public fora with his poor grasp of basic concepts and intellectual immaturity, consistently displaying an inability to articulate and coherently sell his vision to the electorate and other key stakeholders,” the commissioner said.

But the Director of Publicity, Edo APC Governorship Campaign Council, Orobosa Omo-ojo, countered the accusation, describing it as incessant noise meant to cover up Governor Godwin Obaseki’s alleged economic corruption.

Omo-ojo said, “The continued rehash of phantom puny stories by Governor Godwin Obaseki is a reflection of their fear of reprisals from Edo State people who recently capitalised on the #Endbadgovernance protest sponsored by Obaseki against President Bola Tinubu, to search for the hidden palliative rice which the governor stored in the houses of PDP leaders.

“Edo people will recall how the governor organised the anti-Federal Government protest at Oba Ovoranmwen Square, all in his bid to demonise Tinubu and APC and punish Edo people who he has deprived of their palliative.

“But contrary to Obaseki’s expectation, while he was addressing his PDP members and political aides he gathered as protesters, the real protesters heeded the call by the APC to locate their rice and other palliative items hidden at the Edo State government warehouses and houses of PDP members.

“The real protesters who were present at Ovoranmwen Square hurled sachets of water at Obaseki. Since our charge to Edo people to take back their rice, over four warehouses and private homes have been busted by hungry men and women to collect what rightly belongs to them.”

Omo-ojo said the fear of losing the entire hidden grains led to Obaseki’s hatred for the organisers of the protest, who he now referred to as hoodlums and thugs.

“This allegation of violence is an incessant noise to cover up for the grand economic corruption the governor has committed against the Edo people.

“It is also a panic measure to curry support in the face of impending disqualification of the PDP and its candidate by the Independent National Electoral Commission over the forging of voter card.

“Finally, the APC in Edo is using this medium to notify our people that Obaseki, on Tuesday, applied and got the approval of the Edo State House of Assembly to borrow N8.55bn for the purchase of his imaginary CNG buses.

“We reject the fresh loan on the heels of N11.1bn Obaseki received from the Federation Account in June,” he said.