Akpabio stated that the newly released monies for state governors differ from their monthly allotment and advised them not to utilize the cash for purposes other than addressing food crisis.
Senator Godwin Akpabio, the Nigerian Senate President, has said that all 36 state governors have received an additional N30 billion from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to address the country’s food scarcity situation.
The Senate President, speaking at one of the federal parliamentarians’ plenary sessions, branded various protests organized in certain major cities around the country against rising hunger and hardship as being sponsored by political interests.
Akpabio stated that the newly released monies for state governors differ from their monthly allotment and advised them not to utilize the cash for purposes other than addressing food crisis.
He said, “We can see a lot of protests here and there, most of those sponsored protests are not aware of the kind of efforts being made by this senate to tackle the situation together with a joint management team of the federal republic of Nigeria. I must say that unverified report has it that each of the state government in the last few months has received additional N30billion from Federal Inland Revenue Service, outside their normal allocation from the federation account to assist them in ameliorating the food situation, we believed that every state government should utilise the funds so received towards ensuring that food is available.
“This Senate will not rubber stamp anything that will feel is not with the interest of Nigeria,” he added.
This media reported how residents of Ibadan in Oyo State on Monday morning blocked major roads to protest against the economic hardship caused by the policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The protest began in Ibadan’s Mokola area, and the protesters, mostly youths, barricaded the Mokola under-bridge and the Queen Elizabeth Road.
Earlier this month,Platinum Times reported how similar protests were held in Minna and Suleja, the commercial nerve centres of Niger State.
The angry protesters had called on President Tinubu’s government to end the hardship and unbearable inflation in the country.