The Federal Government’s rice palliative meant to cushion the harsh economic effects of the petrol subsidy removal on the very poor and vulnerable Nigerians has been politicised and shared based on political party lines in Akwa Ibom State, LEADERSHIP garthered.
One of the dissatisfied opposition political parties, African Action Congress (AAC), Akwa Ibom State Chapter, has kicked against what it described as politicisation of the palliative, and subsequently returned the party’s share of four bags of rice it received from the State government through the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), which disbursed the relief materials.
Speaking in Uyo, the State capital, the AAC chairman, Elder Utip Etiebiet, explained that the action became necessary “after due consultations with members of the chapter and National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.”
According to him, a letter to that effect had since been addressed to the chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Akwa Ibom State, even as he expressed dismay that the palliative arrangement was deliberately devised “to mock and manipulate the intelligence of Nigerians.”
“Following the stand of my party, African Action Congress (AAC) that the palliative by the Federal Government of Nigeria is a ruse, deceitful and a dubious way of acting on the intelligence of Nigerians, we hereby reject the rice offer of four bags that were offered to the party,” he stated.
AAC, he warned, “is not a refugee camp, and we never acted beggarly to warrant four bags of rice to be sent to the office. Our members have unanimously said that they do not have to survive on palliative since AAC is not a refugee camp.”
Etiebiet added that IPAC has acknowledged receipt of the returned items.
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