By Michael Ofulue, Osogbo

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the state governor, Ademola Adeleke, of diverting palliative rice meant for the citizens of Osun State to his party members.

The party urged him to address “the recurring issue of the Federal Government palliative rice, which the ruling state government has fraudulently converted into a means of political patronage.”

Recall that the Federal Government, headed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, reportedly sent many trailer-loads of rice and grains to the Osun State government for distribution to the poorest citizens in the state, in order to mitigate the harsh effects of the removal of the fuel subsidy last year.

APC, in a statement by its state chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, alleged that instead of distributing the rice to meet the immediate needs of the people, Governor Adeleke decided to warehouse the trailer-loads of rice and later re-bag and re-brand them “in a manner fraudulently suggestive that the bags of rice were being provided by the Adeleke-led government.”

“Information has it that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has started distributing the Federal Government rice as Eid-al-Kabir gifts only to members of the ruling party, instead of making it available to all the residents of the state without religious and political consideration,” Lawal alleged.

The statement, signed by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, added that it was unfortunate that Governor Adeleke had mismanaged the Federal Government’s palliative rice “again and as usual.”

Lawal questioned the state governor “and his associates on why they were reluctant to come clean about the issue of the Federal Government rice palliatives meant for the people of the state.”

“What we are talking about is the common patrimony of the state, which the people of the state are entitled to know the formula for its appropriation in the interest of fairness, accountability, and probity in public office.

“It will not be out of place for the people of the state to know how many bags of rice were distributed and who the beneficiaries were.

“It will also interest the people to know if the government of Adeleke had truly bought additional bags of rice to supplement the Federal Government’s supply and at what cost.

“It is only when these questions are answered diligently that the governed would be convinced that there have not been sharp practices by the government on the recurring issue of the Federal Government palliative rice.

“Would it be fair to distribute the Federal Government palliative rice only to members of the PDP when it wasn’t only the party members who voted in the governor as the state chief executive?

“Why is it that Governor Adeleke and his cohorts detest the accountability portion of governance and brand those craving for the same as enemies of his administration?

“We, as a party, won’t allow Governor Adeleke to rest until he gives a proper account of the Federal Government palliative rice. We won’t allow him to shortchange the people of the state,” the APC chairman stated.