If Tinubu gave N1.1 trillion to governors, lawmakers for food, why is there hunger in the land
Citing unverified reports, Nigeria’s number three citizen and senate president, Godswill Akpabio, said on the Senate floor on Tuesday that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, doled out over N1 trillion to the country’s 36 state governors to deal with food shortages in the country.
According to him, each state governor has been allocated an extra N30 billion to address the challenges of food scarcity and hardships confronting Nigerians.
Why the nation’s top lawmaker will describe the information as unverified still rankles but Akpabio said: “I must say that unverified report has it that each of the state government in the last few months received additional N30 billion from Federal Inland Revenue Service, outside their normal allocation from the federation account to assist them in ameliorating the food situation.
“We believe that every state government should utilise the funds so received towards ensuring that food is available.”
It is not the first time information of such intervention is coming to light, but hunger and its attendant anger persists in the land.
Last December, it emerged that each of the 109 senators got N200 million from the president to purchase grains and other foodstuff for their constituents. Each of the 360 House of Representatives members allegedly got N120 million for the same purpose.
With N65 billion worth of the foodstuff to lawmakers and N1.08 trillion to governors, the big question, a National Assembly watcher asked on Wednesday is: why is there then hunger in the land?
Though federal lawmakers continue to deny the disbursement, at least two of them have gone on record on social media to confirm the allocation to their constituents, while others play hide and seek with theirs.
So far, sine human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, made the allegations, now corroborated by Akpabio, none of the 36 state governors has raised a denial.