President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has affirmed that every governor had been allocated extra N30 billion to address the food scarcity and hardships confronting Nigerians.
He advised the states to judiciously utilise the funds. Last September, the Federal Government said N2 billion was released to governors out of the N5 billion loan it offered to each state as palliative to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
During plenary, Akpabio said information available to him indicated that apart from the first tranche of the funds given to the governors, an additional N30 billion was also awarded them through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
“I must say that an unverified report has it that each of the state governments in the last few months has received additional N30 billion from the Federal Inland Revenue Service outside their normal allocations from the Federation Account to assist them in ameliorating the food situation,” he added.
The current economic hardship has led to a hike in the prices of food across the federation. Shortage of foodstuffs was also linked to hoarding by some people and illegal smuggling to neighbouring countries.
Recall that Vice President Kashim Shettima had disclosed how security operatives discovered 32 illegal routes being used to smuggle foodstuffs and other items to neighbouring nations.
