News in brief:
â Nigeriaâs Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security denied accusations of causing delays in the distribution of rice palliatives, stating that it is not involved in palliative distribution.
â It clarified that these projects, including rice distribution, are part of broader infrastructure initiatives managed by individual lawmakers for their constituents and are ongoing.
Nigeriaâs Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has refuted allegations of delaying the distribution of rice palliative in several states. Its statement comes after reports emerged blaming it for bureaucratic bottlenecks in delivering President Bola Tinubuâs rice relief initiative.
The ministry, through its director of information, Joel Oruche, emphasised that it is not involved in distributing palliatives. It adds that it is rather facilitating constituency projects sanctioned under the 2023 supplementary appropriation.
The projects, budgeted for and managed by the FMAFS, encompass various needs identified by individual members of the National Assembly for their constituents.
Clarifying further, the statement adds that while some projects may include staple grains like rice, the ministry stresses these are not palliatives but part of broader infrastructure and development initiatives tailored to specific constituencies.
Furthermore, the implementation of these projects, including rice distribution where applicable, is currently underway and not experiencing any undue delays. It also adds that the responsibility for project execution ultimately lies with the respective lawmakers and their chosen contractors, while the FMAFS provides oversight and support.
However, it concurs that the funds needed for the project were domiciled in under the ministry because of its relevance to its overall objective, but this is not unusual as other ministries also had funds domiciled for implementation purposes where relevant.
