The Benue State governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, has provided clarifications over the seizure of the palliatives belonging to a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ushongo/Kwande Federal Constituency, Terseer Ugboh.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kula Tersoo, clarified on Monday that the government was investigating the allegations surrounding the politics that were taken to a private residence in the state capital.
The governor explained that the government had swung into action after it received notification that some palliatives meant for some vulnerable groups in the country had been taken to a private residence at kilometre two, along Gboko Road, Makurdi.
The spokeswoman disclosed that as soon as the information was gotten, the state governor directed the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency to track the goods and move them to the government house for proper investigations.
Kula noted that the palliteves were taken from the National Emergency Management Agency in Jos, according to him the normal procedure was to take the truck to the SEMA office for recogbaiton and documentation since the goodies were meant for the citizens, the the truck was rather taken to a private residence.
The government further disclosed that an inquiry was sent to the people, including stakeholders, traditional rulers, and constituents, to determine whether they were aware of such palliative care, but the residents disclosed they were not aware of such distribution.
The governor, who recognised President Bola Tinubu’s efforts for his support and interventions to the people of the state, assured that the palliatives kept in the government house would be distributed to the people of Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency as soon as the investigations were concluded by the government personnel.
In his earlier submissions, the lawmaker representing the constituency accused the governor of the state of taking the palliatives sent from Abuja for the constituents.
While speaking to a journalist on Monday, the lawmaker stated that the palliatives were taken from Jos to the Benue State Capital in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). He disclosed that there was an agreement in place between him and NEMA to offload the materials in a private warehouse in the state pending the distribution date, which will be fixed in Jato Aka.
The lawmaker noted that over N5 million was spent before the commodities arrived in Benue State capital. He expressed regret that the issue had taken a political turn by taking them to the government house, indicating that there was a motive to divert them.
The lawmaker disclosed that the products included in the truck are 78 bags of rice, 578 bags of garri, 578 mosquito nets, 578 mattresses, 578 pieces of wax print, 58 cartons of vegetable oil, 58 cartons of seasoning cubes and 58 cartons of tomato paste.
He claimed that the state government had decided to paint him in a bad light and threatened to take the government to court if the truck was not released by Tuesday.
However, Ugboh appealed to the people of his constituency, especially the displaced persons, to be patient as he assured them of the release of the seized truck.
