Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media, Crusoe Osagie, has berated the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Engr. Abubakar Momoh for attempting to mislead the public on the State Government’s feeding programme, noting that claims by the Minister that the bags of rice allocated to the State by the Federal Government were rebagged and distributed by the state government is completely false and malicious.
In a statement, Osagie said the State Government had in March, 2024 designed a feeding programme that was implemented through religious institutions in the State with over N2.2bn released to Christian and Muslim bodies to implement the programme, which has been very successful.
According to him, “The attention of the Edo State Government has been drawn to comments by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Engr. Abubakar Momoh, in which he attempted to mislead the public about the State Government’s feeding programme.
“The State would like to place on record that the reference made by the Minister that the bags of rice allocated to the state government by the Federal Government were rebagged and distributed by the state government is completely false and malicious.
“The State Government had in March designed a feeding programme that was implemented through religious institutions in the State. Over N2.2bn was released to Christian and Muslim bodies to implement the programme, which has been very successful.
“The case of looted bags of rice referenced by the Minister has been put to rest by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who have explained that it was an incident at the residence of one of its vendors.
“But unfortunately, the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose propaganda the Minister appears to echo in his interview on national television, seems to have an axe to grind with the Christian umbrella body.”
Osagie noted that “It was mischief unexpected of a top government official to claim credit for the relief materials being distributed by CAN under the sponsorship of the State Government. Also, it is expected that a member of the Federal Executive Council, the highest government decision-making organ in the country, will be able to make factual statements about the Federal Government’s own feeding
