The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media,  Crusoe  Osagie, has berated the  Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Abubakar Momoh, for attempting to mislead the public on the state government’s feeding programme, noting that claims by the minister that the bags of rice allocated to the state by the Federal Government were rebagged and distributed by the state government is completely false and malicious.

In a statement, Osagie said that the state government had, in March, 2024, designed a feeding programme that was implemented through religious institutions in the state with over N2.2 billion released to Christian and Muslim bodies to implement the programme, which has been very successful.

He said: “The case of looted bags of rice referenced by the minister has been put to rest by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who has explained that it was an incident at the residence of one of its vendors.

“Unfortunately, the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose propaganda the minister appears to echo in his interview on national television, seems to have an axe to grind with the Christian umbrella body.

“It was mischief unexpected of a top government official to claim credit for the relief materials being distributed by CAN under the sponsorship of the state government. Also, it is expected that a member of the Federal Executive Council, the highest government decision-making organ in the country, will be able to make factual statements about the Federal Government’s own feeding programme.”

Osagie stressed that the minister appeared hollow and confused about the feeding programme by the government he serves, therefore leaving the people even more confused than they were before he attempted to provide an explanation.