The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the Edo State Government has not received any rice from the Federal Government or Dangote Foundation.The Deputy Director-General, Media and Publicity, PDP Governorship Campaign Council for Edo, Olu Martins, disclosed this during a press briefing, yesterday, in Benin.

Martins denied claims by Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North Senatorial District, that the state government received 20 trucks of rice from the Federal Government and 30,000 bags from Dangote Foundation.

Oshiomhole, a former governor of the state, said that the rice was looted during the nationwide protest in Benin. Martin said that Oshiomhole’s allegations about the distribution and redistribution of rice by the Federal Government to the state government were not correct. He said: “As a former governor, we believed he should understand how the wheel of government runs.

“When the President issued his statement on Sunday, there was no mention of palliative as per rice going into any of the states.

“Perhaps, the President missed it, or it was still in the offing because if you sent 20 trailers of rice to Edo as APC claimed, it should come from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.”Martins described Oshiomhole’s claims as “heart-breaking,” accusing him of “crying wolf” and trying to incite the looting of private warehouses.

According to him, the Edo State Government has released N1 billion to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to buy and distribute bags of rice, which was managed by church and mosque leaders.
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