Controversy was stirred last week, when a video recording of a member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives from Edo state went viral on the social media, announcing the receipt of hundreds of bags of rice as his own share of President Bola Tinubu’s palliative to lawmakers, for onward sharing to their constituents. JOSHUA EGBODO writes on the issues thrown up by the claim.
N300 million palliatives
As preparations were in top gear for the Christmas season, there were reports suggesting that President Bola Tinubu had approved the procurement of palliative items worth N300 million in the ratio of N200 million for Senators, and N100 million for members of the House of Representatives. Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Olusegun Dada, later confirmed the distribution of palliative items to the lawmakers worth the said amount.
Dada said: “After initial logistics delay, I can now confirm that Senators and members of the House of Representatives have started taking stock of the Federal Government’s palliative items for their constituents as part of efforts to ease life for all Nigerians.
“Each HoR member received items worth N100m while Senatorial constituencies got palliative items worth N200m”.
The video
The controversial video, which enjoyed multiple shares on the social media was done by Hon. Anamero Dekeri, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Etsako federal constituency of Edo State, in which he claimed to have received two trailers of rice from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, as Christmas palliatives for his constituents.
The lawmaker was heard appreciating the president while showcasing the bags of rice in a warehouse, as well as explaining to the people standing with him on how the rice came, as well as the quantities that was given to his constituency.
“President Bola Tinubu ordered the ministry of Agriculture to allocate N100 million worth of rice and other grains to each of the 360 House of Representatives members to share to their constituents in December. For the 109 senators, the allocation was N200m worth of rice Palliatives to share.
“Please my people, did your honourable members or senators share Tinubu’s rice in your constituency this Christmas? Don’t mind if they branded it with their pictures,” he said in the video.
Reactions
As the controversial video sparked off debate across the country, it was disagreement galore amongst members of the National Assembly. The Senate debunked the claims, as its chairman of the committee on media and public affairs, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu, said he was yet to receive any of such palliative items from the federal government.
Some of the lawmaker’s colleagues from Edo State were to disagree with him, as they said they had no idea of the palliative, neither had the receive any. Hon. Dennis Idahosa in reacting to the controversy surrounding the viral video said the matter should be thoroughly investigated, as he in a statement, described the allegations by his colleague as spurious, misleading and capable of inciting constituents against their representatives.
Titled “Notice of disclaimer,” Idahosa in the statement said no bag of rice has been supplied from the federal government for distributions to the people of his Ovia Federal Constituency. He said: “federal government in its wisdom made provisions for a N100 million towards providing palliatives and development, the award letter for this purpose was released on the 15th of December, 2023, with the analysis of N50 million for provision of Rice and the other N50m for solar street lights.
“The procurement process which includes the BOQ to ascertain the number of bags of rice and solar street lights poles has not been issued to the contractor who won the bid for supply to the Federal Constituency, as at today this has not been concluded by the awarding ministry.
“I will also in the spirit of transparency and forthright service, call on the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Civil Society Organizations, Concerned Citizens of Edo and the Inspector General of Police to investigate the purported supplies of 2,400 bags of rice to me for distributions to my constituents”.
Similarly, a member elected on platform of the Labour Party (LP), representing Oredo Federal Constituency of Edo State, reacted on X, formally Twitter, under the name and handle (Engr. Esosa Iyawe, @EsosaIyawe), saying that “In view of the recent post from Hon Anamero Dekeri MHR Etsako, I would like to affirm that NO LP Rep member in Edo state received, not even an okada bike of rice from the FG this Yuletide season.
“All palliatives shared in Oredo Federal Constituency during the Yuletide season were personally purchased”, faulting the claims by his colleague.
Independent checks
An independent fact-check on the controversy has been carried out by PRNigeria, which reported further that another member representing Ijebu Central Federal Constituency of Ogun State, Hon. Femi Ogunbanwo explained that his constituency has not received anything like that. “This information and claim is not only spurious but also misleading. As the Member representing the financially prudent people of Ijebu Central Federal Constituency, I can categorically say that not one bag of rice has been given by /supplied from the Federal Government of Nigeria for the purpose of distributions to any Constituency”, the platform quoted the lawmaker.
PRNigeria said during the investigation, it observed that “Besides Hon. Dekeri, no other federal legislator from other states of the federation have confirmed the receipt of President Tinubu’s Christmas rice palliatives”, and concluded that “there is no SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE to support the claim by Honourable Dekeri that President Tinubu provided truck loads of rice for distribution by lawmakers to various constituencies across the country”.
The House explains
While the controversy raged, the House of Representatives later offered some clarifications, and did not deny the existence of such palliative arrangement.
Chairman of its committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Akin Rotimi in a statement last Thursday and a follow-up on on Saturday, stated that “The House of Representatives is monitoring a trending topic on social media, relating to the distribution of palliatives by Honourable Members, and in line with our Legislative Agenda which promises responsive, timely, and accurate information, the People’s House considers it necessary to respond to Nigerians to clarify issues.
“The pro-people position of the Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen Phd-led House of Representatives, on the need for the Federal Government to expedite palliative measures to support vulnerable Nigerians, is well documented. This is on account of the hardship Nigerians are experiencing following the removal of fuel subsidy last year.
“Our leadership successfully lobbied for additional palliatives for our constituents across the country, which is being handled by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in line with extant Public Procurement Laws.
“The procurement process is at different stages depending on the constituency, but to be clear, no legislator has, nor will be given any money for palliatives. While, as politicians, Honourable Members may be visible during the process of distribution, and rightfully take the credit for bringing succour to the people, the procurement and distribution of the palliatives is being handled by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
“As it is customary during this season, Honourable Members, in their respective constituencies, celebrate with their constituents in various ways, in individual capacities. These gestures should not be misconstrued as palliatives, and Honourable Members will continue to engage at the grassroots to clarify these issues in order not to cause disaffection for colleagues in other constituencies…
“We must further clarify that the timing of the distribution is not in the hands of any Honourable Member. The entire process is under the control of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. Some constituencies have received theirs, while others are yet being processed. We call for patience, as no constituency would be left behind”.
A communication gap?
The spokesman’s clarifications may have doused the tension and pressure from constituents on their representatives, but analysts have questioned the process, and manner in which lawmakers appeared not to have been informed on the procurement. Many have drawn the conclusion that but for the information put forward by an aide to the President, combined with the viral video, the clarification may not have come, leaving the question of how there could be such a communication gap between the leadership, and members of the parliament?
With the clarifications offered, it is the opinion of many that there would be less pressure on the members for now, even as the waiting is indefinite. How patient could the constituents be, however, remains the big question.
