The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) says that palliatives found in warehouses and later looted in different parts of the country were to be distributed to the poor and vulnerable citizens.
In a statement issued by Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, Head of Media and Public Affairs, NGF said the clarification was necessary because of the wrong information circulating in the social media.
“A lot of the information circulating the social media needs to be fact-checked,” said.
The governors insisted that no state government had been involved in the hoarding of the items.
“For the avoidance of doubt, some of the palliatives had the CACOVID stamp embossed on them, meaning that their source is unambiguous,” the governors said.
They insisted that the erroneous impression in the public domain that the palliatives were hoarded was “entirely erroneous and untrue but also mischievous, to say the least.”
“As we know, CACOVID operations are mainly domiciled in Lagos, being the headquarters of most of the public-spirited organizations, corporate bodies, and individuals that came together to form the Coalition Against COVID-19; CACOVID”
“Until mid-October, when the NGF had its last meeting, up to ten States had not participated in the flag-off ceremonies for the distribution of palliatives in their States”
“This was because the items meant for distribution in these states had not been completely received from CACOVID”
“Some other States that still had palliatives in their warehouses chose to keep a strategic reserve ahead of a projected second wave of Covid-19”
“Furthermore, as of a couple of weeks ago, some States were still receiving palliatives from the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development”
