Razaq Bamidele
Ondo State Government has never rejected the bags of rice supplied to it by the federal government.
Spokesperson of the State’s Palliative Committee, Alex Kalejaye said in a statement that the story was untrue and sensational.
Putting the record straight, Kalejaye said at no time did the governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, instruct that the rice, meant to assist the state to combat food insecurity, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, be rejected and returned to Abuja.
According to him, at the receipt of the items, the Palliative Committee did a random physical inspection on the rice, and discovered that some appeared unhealthy for consumption, at least on the face-value, while others look good.
“The Committee indeed drew the attention of Mr. Governor to this and pleaded for proper guidance.
“And while awaiting the thoughts of Mr. Governor, the Committee members met and decided to carry out a comprehensive inspection, to ascertain how many bags have been affected on account of storage.
“We discovered that less than ten percent of the lot falls into this category, and subsequently separated the few bags.
“It is therefore very embarrassing that some media outfits will go to town that the State Government has rejected the Federal Government support.
” The state is rather deeply appreciative of the Federal Government for standing by it in this trying time, and very optimistic that the support will further cushion the effects of hunger on our people,” the party asserted..
The party therefore appealed to journalists to be painstaking in their assignments, and always put their crave for scoop in check.
