The Abia State Government has reiterated its commitment to transparency in managing all aids received from the Federal Government, international, or local agencies, to ensure fair and equitable distribution of such items to the people.
Governor Alex Otti stated this during stakeholders meeting for the distribution of the expected food commodities from the Federal Government through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Otti, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Caleb Ajagba, said the meeting was aimed at overseeing the proper coordination and transparent distribution of food items to residents of the State which would be sent to address the issue of food scarcity occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.
He pointed out that the composition of the committee was in line with the directive from the Federal Government through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Otti, while noting that the present administration encouraged transparency, underscored the government’s dedication to serving the people of Abia State efficiently.
“One thing I want to stress is that this is a very transparent administration and so we don’t want to keep anyone in the doubt or in the dark as to what accrues to the state.
“The same way I have demonstrated capacity, competence and transparency in the management of this state, everything that accrues to this state, whether from the Federal, the international donor agencies or the local organisations will always be declared so that Abians will know at what point they’re receiving.
“Whatever they are receiving, Abians will also know how what is being received is being made available to everyone so that at the end of it all, they’ll know that indeed, a new Abia is here.
“That is why we have called on everyone here today that we can sit round the table and be able to take stock of what has been made available and then decisively deal with the issue of how they will be made available to the end users.
“We also want to encourage the level of transparency that the administration has shown to be replicated everywhere across board,” he said.
Governor Otti, who disclosed that the state recently received a letter from the Federal Government on the allocation of food items, including Maize and Garri, outlined the breakdown of the grain allocated to include, “663 metric tons of Maize representing 13,260 bags of 50Kg and 79.9 metric tons of Garri representing 3,196 bags of 25 kg to be shared equally among the LGAs.”
He also said that although the food items had not yet arrived, the Abia State Ministry of Agriculture had provided a warehouse for storage upon arrival.
The governor said the state would conduct a comprehensive inventory of the received items to ensure transparency and accountability throughout the distribution process to provide accurate account to the Federal Government through NEMA.
He added that 20% of the grains would be allocated to faith-based organisations, including the Christian community represented by CAN and the Muslim community, represented by JMI while 3percent of the food items would be distributed to boarding schools across the LGAs as directed.
He urged stakeholders to participate in ensuring a fair and transparent distribution process.
The interactive meeting featured contributions from various stakeholders including Mayors from the 17 LGAs of the state, Civil society groups, women and youth association, Persons with Disabilities, representatives of faith-based organisations NLC, TUC, among others.
Representatives of the Police, DSS, NSCDC, principals of schools, executive secretary state Emergency Management Agency were also part of the meeting.
