Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has said each state had been mandated to use N1 billion out of the money to buy local rice, saying that his state had bought 3,000 bags of rice and had shared the rice to all the local government areas in the state.

According to POLITICS NIGERIA,  the governor made the confirmation on Monday when he confirmed that Plateau State received N2 billion and noted that 52% of the palliative allocation is grant while 48% is loan.

He said, “To clarify the 5 Billion Naira Allocation for Palliative to various states of the Country, Plateau State Government has received 2 Billion which includes a 52% grant component and 48% loan component.

“Part of the 5 billion Naira, we have been mandated to use 1 billion Naira to buy rice locally. This is to ensure that money circulates within the local economy.

“Along with the allocation, 3,000 bags of rice was received and has been shared to the Local Governments and I want to pledge my honour that not a single kobo of the 5 billion Naira will be misused.

“We have also set up a committee which will advise the Government on possible palliative options which we will look at so that it covers the wide spectrum of the society.

“We will be looking at issues like improving the bursary of our students, getting fertilizers at a subsidized rate for our farmers and all the other components we can look at within the constraint of the resources at our disposal.

“By the Grace of God, we will do this responsibly.”

It should be recalled that the federal government had in early August announced a N5 billion palliative for each state of the federation, including the federal capital territory (FCT), to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.