The Federal Ministry Of Agriculture and Food Security has denied sharing or distributing Rice palliatives at any point or planning to do so.
This was contained in a Statement signed on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, by the Director of Information at the Ministry, Joel Oruche.
The Ministry stated that the allegation of distribution of Rice Palliative by the Ministry is completely false and unfounded.
According to the Ministry, the distribution is a Constituency project of members of the National Assembly under the constituency under the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill and is domiciled with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
The Ministry added that the implementation of the budget is ongoing.
Read Full Statement Below…
The attention of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has been drawn to stories making the rounds that the Ministry is delaying the distribution of rice palliative and wish to state as follows;
1. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is not distributing any palliative.
2. The issue under reference concerns constituency projects budgeted for under the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation and domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
3. It is common knowledge that funds for National Assembly constituency projects are domiciled in the relevant Ministry for purposes of implementation.
4. The implementation process for the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation is on-going.
5. Constituency projects in this instance cover a range of needs of the constituents including staple grains and some agricultural infrastructure as determined by respective members of the National Assembly.
Dr. Joel O. Oruche
Director Information
For: Hon. Minister
9th January, 2024