Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has said the sharing of COVID-19 palliatives was delayed because the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) insisted on official launch.
He denied deliberate hoarding of COVID-19 palliatives, saying his administration had continuously distributed the palliatives to the poor.
He said Ondo State was saved from the looting spree of hoodlums because there were not much palliatives to loot.
The governor spoke at a service to mark the third year enthronement of the Bishop of Owo Diocese, Anglican Communion, Rt. Revd. Dr. Stephen Fagbemi, at the All Saints Church, Idasen, Owo.
He said those states where the palliatives were warehoused were waiting to receive the remaining items and conduct of a launch of the CA-COVID-19.
The governor and his 35 other colleagues nationwide have been under fire for allegedly hoarding the palliatives that were massively looted across the nation by hoodlums who had hijacked the popular #EndSARS protests
The palliatives were meant to cushion the effect of COVID-19 in their respective states.
Already, the governors under the umbrella of the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, and individually, have, since last week, been vehemently denying hoarding the relief items insisting that information circulating in the social media are erroneous and mischievous.
Several groups, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have asked the federal and state governments to immediately release all COVID-19 palliatives and welfare materials being looted by hoodlums from warehouses across the country to Nigerians.
NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, also called for the investigation of officials who hoarded the palliative provisions.
The Congress said it had followed with keen concern the unfolding incidents across the country of mass storming and looting of relief welfare materials and provisions stored away in different warehouses.
Wabba said these relief palliatives and provisions are believed to have been procured by government to relieve citizens of the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown and the associated hardship.
He said, “It is obvious that the palliative provisions that were procured by government for immediate distribution to the mass of our people at their critical time of need and to assuage the hardship occasioned by the lockdown were hoarded and held back by some government officials.
“The reasons for this have not been made known to the public. We also understand that many of the palliative provisions are already getting rotten in the warehouses where they were stored.
“While we condemn the ensuing mass looting of both the Covid-19 palliatives and non-Covid-19 palliatives and non-Covid-19 palliative materials, we equally deplore the conduct of some government officials who stored away relief materials that should have been distributed to the masses of our people at their very trying times of need.
“We call on the Federal Government to investigate the conduct of those who hoarded the palliative provisions. In order to forestall riotous plundering of the remaining relief palliatives, the Nigeria Labour Congress demands that the Federal Government should order the immediate release of all the welfare provisions and materials to citizens.
“As we had demanded in the past, the distribution of the palliative provisions should be transparent, and inclusive with active participation of mass-based citizen groups. This directive should apply to state governments many of which are chiefly culprit in this regards. Government officials cannot afford to create a scenario that precipitates mass unrest at this very delicate and fragile milieu in global history.”
But spurning the allegations, governors of the 36 states of the federation dismissed insinuations that states were hoarding the palliatives that were collected.
In a statement by the head, media affairs, of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Abdulrazaque Bello – Barkindo, the governors noted that since the #EndSARS demonstrations started, they held several meetings to address the underlying concerns, with members of the forum aligning themselves with the call for justice leading to the setting up of judicial panels in the States of the Federation against Police brutality.
Noting that a lot of the information circulating in the social media needed to be fact-checked, the governors pleaded with members of the public to desist from spreading rumours which further creates panic and stampede.
The statement noted: “For example, some of the properties stolen and vandalized, include palliatives set aside for vulnerable members of society.
“The NGF reemphasizes and corrects the impression that palliatives found in warehouses that were broken into in Lagos and some other States were kept in storage for members of the society especially our vulnerable citizens.
“The erroneous impression in the public domain that these palliatives were hoarded is not just inaccurate, entirely erroneous and untrue but also mischievous, to say the least.
“For the avoidance of doubt, some of the palliatives had the CACOVID stamp embossed on them, meaning that their source is unambiguous.
“As we know, CACOVID operations are mainly domiciled in Lagos, being the headquarters of most of the public-spirited organisations, corporate bodies and individuals that came together to form the Coalition Against COVID-19; CACOVID.
“Until mid-October, when the NGF had its last meeting, up to ten States had not participated in the flag-off ceremonies for the distribution of palliatives in their States. This was because the items meant for distribution in these states had not been completely received from CACOVID.
“Some other States that still had palliatives in their warehouses chose to keep a strategic reserve ahead of a projected second wave of Covid-19”.
The governors pointed out that as of a couple of weeks ago some states were still receiving palliatives from the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
“The NGF wishes to state categorically that no State has been involved in or has hoarded any palliatives”, the governors stated, assuring all contributors to the palliatives that prior to the looting of the warehouses, states had kept full accounts of all the items received and distributed.
Calling on members of the public to check their facts, the governors said, “While we all recognize the need for improved governance we should be careful not to damage ourselves by pushing the wrong narrative.
“The State Governors are doing their very best under the circumstances to ameliorate the needs of the teeming population. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum stands for justice, improved governance and a progressive Nigeria”.
