Irregularities: Kano govt probes Ramadan feeding programme
By Abdullahi Yusuf
Following the discovery of some irregularities in this year’s Ramadan Feeding by Governor Abba Yusuf, the Kano State Government has commenced an investigation into the running of the programme.
Governor Yusuf had expressed dismay at the operation of the programme when he paid a surprise visit to some selected Ramadan Feeding Centres in the Kano metropolis last week.
The Governor expressed disappointment at what he saw at the centres, asking several questions that had no answers from the operators of the programme.
Speaking to newsmen on Sunday,the Director General Media and Publicity to the Governor, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa,said that in the next 24 hours,the government would readjust the Feeding Committee handling the exercise.
Dawakin Tofa disclosed that the State Government had set aside 80 Feeding Centers across 8 Metropolitan Local Government areas, and that the target was to feed 1000 persons daily at each centre.
“Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf was himself at the Feeding Centers and saw what was happening and instead of meeting the actual 1000 targeted people, he saw only 450 registered beneficiaries being fed at the centres he visited,” he said.
The director-general said that because of the findings,the Governor ordered that the committee handling the exercise be readjusted and the whole misappropriation be investigated with a view to punishing the culprits.
He then disclosed that the Federal Government had supported the State with one hundred trucks of rice, 44 trucks of sorghum, 14 trucks of millet and 4 trucks of maize, while Dangote Foundation supported the State with 120,000 10kg bags of rice.
“Apart from all these donations, the State Government is giving out 145 trucks of assorted grains for distribution to the 44 Local Government Areas and the 484 Wards in collaboration with the Local Government Councils,” the Governor’s Spokesman said.
He said the Governor had warned that he would not tolerate dishonesty and mismanagement of public resources.
He then denied reports that the government had earmarked the sum of N6 billion for the feeding programme.
According to him, the reports were untrue and baseless, adding that the government had allocated less than N2 billion for the programme.
“The government has earmarked about N1.2 billion for the programme,and not N6 billion as widely speculated in some quarters,”Dawakin Tofa added.
