Parliament

Reps: FG gave rice as palliative to our constituencies, not N100m

The House of Representatives says the Federal Government gave its members rice to be distributed to their constituencies as palliative and not N100 million as being peddled.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity, Akin Rotimi, said this in a statement on Thursday, January 4, 2024.

This is coming against the backdrop of a viral video of Dekeri Anamero saying President Bola Tinubu gave each member two trailers of rice to be distributed to their constituents as palliative.

Anamero, a member representing Etsako Federal Constituency, said in a viral video that Tinubu gave each of the lawmakers two trailers of rice.

The rice, according to him, is to be shared with their various constituencies.

However, Rotimi said the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, lobbied for it as additional palliatives for their constituents across the country.

This, he said, was handled by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in line with existing public procurement laws.

“The procurement process is at different stages, depending on the constituency, but to be clear, no legislator has been given any money for palliatives,” the lawmaker said.

Rotimi noted that as politicians, the lawmakers might be visible during the process of distribution and rightfully take credit for bringing succor to the people.

He said the 10th House of Representatives was the ‘People’s House’, adding that it would continue to engage and work to earn the trust of Nigerians as their elected representatives.

The Star