By Mohammad Ibrahim
Kaduna (Nigeria) – Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria has described the so-called feeding of the poor during Ramadan as fraudulent.
He described it as a window to create and loot public treasury with impunity using religion as a cover.
A statement by the Governor’s Media Aide, Samuel Aruwan says, the Governor disclosed while hosting religious leaders at the government house.
El Rufai, explained that the State is broke, and needs to tighten its finances to serve the people better, in a manner that befits their massive support for change.
The State Governor last week announced his decision to discontinue the practice of distributing food items and gifts during Ramadan – a decision that generated uproar in the state among various groups.
Aruwan statement added that the Governor made it clear that his administration will no longer tolerate the siphoning of government resources in the guise of gifts to prominent politicians, public servants and famous figures, or the feeding of indigent persons during religious occasions; neither will it be involved in sponsoring people.
“The governor explain that the government has stopped issuing contracts to so called ‘super’ politicians to supply foods, beverages and other essentials as Ramadan gifts across the state because the process is entirely fraudulent with nothing tangible to show for it, except playing to the gallery to score cheap political goals and fraudulently enrich a few individuals.
“Findings have revealed how it is mainly prominent politicians and influential personalities that benefit from the Ramadan and Christmas gifts instead of the so called ‘poor’. Food stuffs, bought with public resources, are distributed to prominent government officials and other personalities while the poor in whose name those foods are procured queue in droves for crumbs and are constantly subjected to several forms of hardships and degrading circumstances after such sham gestures.
“The hundreds of million of naira involved have not translated into visible feeding points in Kaduna,” he said.
The statement added that the Governor is committed to always helping the needy in a transparent and sustainable manner.
It says El-Rufai is focused on providing sincere leadership, and that includes taking steps against the looting of the public treasury in the guise of feeding ordinary citizens who are deprived of social justice and basic amenities.
