Bayelsa accuses APC of diverting FG flood palliatives

The Bayelsa State government has revealed that some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state are accused of diverting items sent by the Federal Ministry of Regional Development as palliatives for flood victims.

Mrs. Ebiowou Koku-Obiyai, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Orientation, and Strategy, made the announcement on Monday during a briefing on the palliatives received from the Federal Government at the Government House in Yenagoa.

While Koku-Obiyai did not specify the number of items allegedly diverted by APC members, she confirmed that the state received the supplies on Saturday of the previous week and was now informing the public about the situation.

Among the items received by Bayelsa State were 2,000 bags of 50kg rice, six bags of 50kg beans, 150 cartons of spaghetti, 1,000 mosquito nets, 100 cartons of tomato paste, and six bags of detergent.

Other supplies included 10 cartons of bathing soap, 20 bags of salt, 20 cartons of vegetable oil, 20 cartons of sachet milk, and two cartons of seasoning cubes.

The state also received 50 cooking stoves, six grinding machines, six sewing machines, three motorcycles, and four bags of rubber slippers.

Koku-Obiyai stated, “This is what we received as a state from the Federal Government.”

“However, information at our disposal has it that more things were brought into the state and were shared among APC stakeholders. But as a government that is what we have received.

“So, the state should know because we are in a yuletide period and anytime from now the state government will be sharing some palliatives to flood victims and the vulnerable people. Bayelsans may be thinking those things come from the items received.

“2,000 bags of rice is not even enough for a ward or constituency and that is the information we have gathered.”

Responding to a question, she said Bayelsa had earlier received N3 billion from the Federal Government for flood victims and that the money was spent on visitations to flood-affected communities and various IDP camps by reaching out to them.

But reacting to the allegation, the Assistant Publicity Secretary of the Bayelsa State chapter of the APC, Mr Coronation Tokpo, described the allegation as frivolous, saying that Federal Government palliatives are not sent to political parties, but to states.

Tokpo said that in the past, APC members have been denied palliatives because the distribution of palliatives has always been done along party lines in the state.