PALLIATIVES HOARDING: CACOVID Foundation Exonerates Kwara State Government
Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) Foundation has explained on Monday that no less than 15 of the 16 local governments in Kwara state had benefited from the palliative materials given to the state for distribution to vulnerable households in the state before the store was looted on Saturday.
CACOVID therefore said Kwara State government did not divert or hoard the palliative items, Nigerian Sketch reports
The palliatives, which were mainly foodstuffs, were donated across the country including Kwara State by the CACOVID Foundation as part of its support for the Nigerian governments to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, was said to have flagged off the official distribution of the palliatives on August 11, 2020 following the handover of the goods by the private sector-led body.
CACOVID representative in Kwara State, Taoheed Adewale Fasasi, said on a live programme on Midland FM in Ilorin that “In terms of distribution of the palliatives, it’s been an excellent performance for Kwara State especially in terms of three key things.
“One, identification of the beneficiaries. We’ve always feared that this could be where there will be problem because we don’t want it to get to the wrong hands. But they (state government) have been able to come up with lists that come directly from the grassroots. And, with this, we know how many families that were given. We have recordings of how many families that were given.
“We were in Jebba (Moro, Kwara North), for instance, and it was not just about distribution, we saw the families. We know where they are and what they do and things like that. The distribution was not hidden. It was more or less like CACOVID handing over to the beneficiaries. The assistance from the (state) committee has been wonderful.”
He also said CACOVID monitoring and evaluation team was on the field to ensure that the palliatives got to the right persons across the state, asserting that its reports do not support the claims that the government hoarded the palliatives.
The state government has equally explained that palliatives the federal government handed to it on October 13 were meant for victims of the recent rainstorm and flood in at least eight local government areas of the state.
The government said the distribution, which was being done by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), had been carried out in Asa, Ilorin South, Ilorin East, and parts of Ilorin West before the hoodlums looted the warehouse in Ilorin. The remaining palliatives that were looted were meant for the victims in Edu, Moro, Patigi and Ifelodun local governments.
