Subsidy palliatives: Religious leaders to determine beneficiaries in Osun, says commissioner

Kolapo Alimi, commissioner for information in Osun, says beneficiaries of the petrol subsidy removal palliative will be selected by religious leaders, including those at local government levels. 

Speaking on Monday while featuring on ‘Good Morning Nigeria’, an NTA programme, Alimi said the state has received about 3,000 bags of 50kg rice for distribution.

The federal government had earlier approved the sum of N5 billion as palliative to states to cushion the impact of petrol subsidy removal.

Alimi said a committee comprising religious leaders, representatives of the labour unions and people with disability, has been constituted for the exercise.

“On this issue of palliative in Osun state, so far, we have received a total of 3,000 bags of 50kg rice and we have equally received information that very soon, Osun will be given 14,000 50kg bags of rice, including the 3,000 metric tonnes of maize,” he said.

“On the issue of the register, I told you we set up a committee.

“The committee deliberated on the issue of the register.

“However, in their own wisdom, they discovered that the register, apart from the fact that most of the data is not reliable, they decided that they will not be relying on any register.

“I told you that in that committee, we already have the permanent secretary of special duties, the major stakeholders are the chairmen of the Muslim committee, they have the numbers of all the small mosques around the state, the numbers of the Imams and they said they are going to constitute another committee at the local level.

“We have the state Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) chairman there and the churches. They know the vulnerable and poorest of the poor in the churches, and we have the labour leaders.

“We believe that these people will be able to generate and give us the template, rather than just relying on certain data that will take us time to verify and people will just hear that rice has been distributed, they will not see it.

“So most of these data that you talked about, aside from the fact that they need to be updated and reviewed, at times, some of them may have political connotations.”

The National Economic Council (NEC) had earlier dropped the national social register compiled by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari over lack of “credibility”.

However, the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) said the register was built by “each of the 36 states, including the FCT”.

Recently, Betta Edu, minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, said the ministry has commenced verification of the register.