Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti has set up a committee to oversee the transparent distribution of Federal Government food items to address the issue of scarcity occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy in the state.
The Committee which is to be headed by the Mayor of Obingwa LGA, Dr. Eric Egwuibe has her membership to include; the Special Adviser to the Governor on Policies and Interventions, Rev Fr. Christian Anokwuru, Representatives of the Christmas Association Nigeria, (CAN), Muslim sect, Traditional rulers, the Nigerian Police and the DSS.
2nd left, Obingwa LGA Mayor, Dr Eric Egwuibe
Governor Otti who set up the Committee, Wednesday, at the Banquet Hall, Government House Umuahia, during a Stakeholders Meeting, noted that the composition of the Committee aligns with the directives of the Federal Government through the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA).
The Governor represented by the Chief of Staff, Pastor Caleb Ajagba noted that state recently received a letter from the Federal Government on the allocation of food items to the state.
Chief of staff to the Governor, Pastor Caleb Ajagba
He outlined the breakdown of the grains allocated the state to include, “663 Metric Tons of Maize representing 13,260 bags of 50Kg and 79.9 Metric Tons of Garri, representating 3,196 bags of 25 kg to be shared equally among the LGAs.
The Chief of staff pointed out that although the commodities have not yet arrived, the Abia State Ministry of Agriculture has provided a warehouse for storage upon arrival.
Pastor Ajagba said the state will conduct a comprehensive inventory of the received items to ensure transparency and accountability throughout the distribution process to provide accurate account to the Federal Government through NEMA.
He added that 20% of the grains will be allocated to faith-based organizations, including the Muslim sect represented by JMI and the Christian sect represented by CAN while 3% of the food items will be distributed to boarding schools across the LGAs as directed by the Governor.
Pastor Ajagba reaffirmed government’s commitment to transparency in managing all aid received from the Federal Government, international and local agencies, to ensure fair and equitable distribution to the people.
While noting that the present administration encourages transparency, the Chief of Staff to the Governor underscored the government’s dedication to serving the people of Abia State efficiently.
“One thing the Governor wants to stress is that this is a very transparent administration and so we don’t want to keep anyone in the doubt or in the dark as to what accures to this state.
“The same way he has demonstrated capacity, competence and transparency in the Management of this state, everything that accures to this state whether from the Federal, the international donor agencies or the local organizations will always be declared so that Abians will know at what point they’re receiving.
“Whatever they are receiving, Abians will also know how what is being received is being made available to everyone so that at the end of it all, they’ll know that indeed, a new Abia is here.
“That is why we have called on everyone here today so that we can sit round the table and be able to take stock of what has been made available and then decisively deal with the issue of how they will be made available to the end users.
“We also want to encourage the level of transparency that the Governor has shown to be replicated everywhere across board”, Ajagba said.
He urged stakeholders to participate in ensuring a fair and transparent distribution process.
The interactive meeting featured contributions from various stakeholders including Mayors from the 17 LGAs of the state, Civil society groups, Women and Youth Association, Persons with Disabilities, representatives of faith based Organizations NLC,TUC among others.
Representative of the NLC
Representatives of the Police, DSS,NSCDC, principals of schools, Executive secretary, State Emergency Management Agency and the Media were part of the meeting.
