Ogun State Govt Denies Looting Of COVID-19 Palliatives

By Olamilekan Alani

The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Monday, raised the alarm that there was a plot against him and other governors to paint them in a bad light.

Abiodun said there was a burning desire to tarnish Nigerian governors image over the handling of the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) palliatives donated to state governments.

A number of CACOVID palliatives warehouses have been looted in Lagos, Osun, Kwara, Plateau and other states in the last one week by the hoodlums.

The development fuelled the allegations that some governors kept the palliatives away from the public.

But while addressing newsmen at Oke-mosan, Abeokuta, Abiodun said a number of reports flying around over the palliatives were meant to paint the governors in bad light.

The governor said while Ogun took delivery of the CACOVID palliatives in September, a number of states had yet to get theirs.

He said although the #EndSARS protest initially delayed the distribution of CACOVID palliative in the state, not less than 18 out of 20 local governments in the state had benefited from the food items.

He said, “So, the story that someone was stockpiling CACOVID palliatives is a misrepresentation of the truth. Nothing would have pleased us (governors) more than distributing those palliatives as and when due.

“When the supplies were done, we began to distribute in a manner that CACOVID recommended. By the time this #EndSARS protest started, we have done 50 per cent of the distribution.

“None of our warehouses (in Ogun State) was looted by anybody. We have successfully distributed about 18 or 19 LGAs as of today.

“These days, things are twisted. There is fake news everywhere.

“There seems to be a burning desire to paint and misrepresent government in a hurry.”