The bags of rice recently distributed by the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government have been seen in a video being re-bagged for commercial sale in Kogi State. The government had earlier said it gave 20 trucks of 25kg rice to each state of the federation for free distribution to vulnerable households. Each truck is said to contain 1200 bags as one the intervention measures of the FG in tackling the surging food inflation in the country.
In the video obtained by SaharaReports, residents were seen stating that as against the directive that the rice should be distributed for free, some persons are repackaging them to be sold in open market.
“The rice shared by the federal government is being repackaged for sale. As you can see on the body is written “not for sale”, however we accosted these persons trying to repackage it. They said they got the rice from the Agriculture ministry in the country” the incensed residents noted in the video. They lamented the rising cost of living and how the intervention meant was also subjected to fraudulent practices.
“It’s unfortunate, I bought a tin of Beans for N380 yesterday and see what they are doing to this rice now” another person said in the video.
It would be recalled that the government said it is committed to tackling food inflation, rolling out interventionary measures to tackle the food inflation.
Distribution of palliatives has always come with corruption and corruption allegation in Nigeria. During the COVID-19 era, different palliatives meant to be shared to residents of different states were seen hoarded in stores, a development that led to anger among citizens.
