THE Osun State Food and Relief Committee has said that the food items looted from a warehouse in Ede, were not directly owned by the State Government.
Bayo Jimoh, Secretary, Osun Food, and Relief Committee said this in a statement seen by The ICIR on Friday.
“It has therefore become imperative to put the records straight in view of the falsehood and the misinformation making the rounds about the donated relief items. One, it is not true that the food items were hoarded,” Jimoh said.
“Two, the food items have no direct bearing with the State Government, as they are within the purview of the Food and Relief Committee.”
He stated that the distribution of the items was supposed to follow a formal flag-off by the CACOVID Office in Abuja.
According to him, the Osun State office does not have the authority to distribute the food items without approval from Abuja.
“Besides, the Committee is still expecting the rice component of the donated items, which is 40, 230 bags of 5kg. All these are part of the reasons the items were still in the warehouse up till the time of the invasion,” he stated.
Jimoh said the donated items include pasta FMN – 29, 992; pasta OLAM -10, 282; noodles- 80, 644; garri -40, 322; salt- 40, 320; and sugar – 40, 227.
He explained that the Committee wrote to CACOVID as recently as September 28, 2020, reminding it of the rice component, which was yet to be delivered.
“I wish to refer to our letter on the above subject and wish to request for the recent update on the rice component expected to have been delivered to the State, and also to seek your advice on the exact time the State should expect delivery, considering the fact that items already received into the Warehouse are food materials and are perishable with limited shelve lives,” Jimoh’s statement read in part.
“May I recall in our previous discussions that the delay experienced is due to an increase in the cost of rice and delivery, that the amount paid to suppliers could no longer cover the cost of purchase and delivery to Osun.”
The Secretary stated that despite the letter, it was yet to receive a response from CACOVID office in Abuja.
On Friday, video footage emerged across social media platforms showing an attack on a warehouse in Ede where people carted away food items.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94