Customs released only 40 not 150 trucks of rice as ordered by President Buhari — Minister

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, said her ministry has only taken delivery of 40 trucks of rice out of the 150 seized by the Nigeria Customs Service.

President Muhammadu Buhari had last month ordered distribution of 150 trucks of rice seized by the Customs to the 36 states of the federation.

Zainab Ahmed had disclosed that the seized trucks of rice have been handed over to the ministry of humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development for distribution to Nigerians.

While throwing more light on the issue at the daily briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, she said: “On the 150 trucks from Customs, this is what was pledged by Customs but so far, we have only 40 trucks available. We have been able to collect 20 trucks of rice from Lagos depot and we have given Lagos State their share and we have taken to Ogun while the one for FCT is on the way. We have also given to Imo and Ebonyi states. We gave two trucks of rice to Ebonyi and three to Imo.  Why we have a disparity in number is because we are supposed to get 19 trucks from the Onne depot but unfortunately, we were only able to get five but we are still in talks with Nigeria Customs to see how we can get the balance.”

On Conditional Cash Transfer Programme , she disclosed that Lagos and Ogun states just commenced the registration and capturing of beneficiaries.

On the continuation of the school feeding programme despite the closure of schools, she said the ministry has put modalities in place to ensure that malnourished children are fed despite the lockdown.

“On the issue of malnourished children, the president also directed that we should continue with the homegrown school feeding programme without compromising the aim of that programme. We are finalizing modalities for the distribution of food to up to 3million households. Vouchers will explicitly state the date, time and location in line with the protective measures. Once the modalities are finalised, the three frontline states will be prioritised before we go to other states.”  (Daily Sun)