From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has disclosed that 210,000 households will benefit from a special palliative programme in Kaduna State. He made this known at a press briefing, which held on 21st August 2023 in the Government House Kaduna.
The Governor stated that, the palliative intervention became necessary to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and revealed that so far, the sum of N2b has been released by the Kaduna State Government.
Governor Sani highlighted the measures his administration had put in place to ensure judicious use of the funds. He said, “To ensure effective implementation, I convened a stakeholder meeting comprising of Government Officials, representatives of trade unions, persons living with disabilities, market and transport unions, and the private sector, amongst others. The meeting was essentially convened to agree on the methodology for the utilization of the palliative funds received from the Federal Government.”
Additionally, he Governor announced that he had approved the three phases of the recommendations made by the meeting. “The First Phase (Short Term) will be devoted to distribution of food items to households.”
Governor Sani explained that the distribution of the 43,000 bags of 50kg rice palliatives will benefit 210,000 households, with special consideration given to people living with disabilities, widows and the elderly.
He added that, “Where applicable, other poor and vulnerable households, orphanages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)) amps, will also be given special attention”
The Governor stated that “A Committee headed by Local Government Chairmen, comprising of LGA staff, organised labour, representatives of the private sector, faith-based organisations, youth and women organisations would be constituted and charged with the responsibility for planning and distribution of palliatives at the LGA level, including identification of beneficiaries as stipulated.” He explained that the distribution of the food items would be proportionate to the size of the population in each Local Government Area.
