Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has said the N5 billion palliative given to each state by the Federal Government is not a free lunch, as part of it is a loan that must be repaid.
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The governor, who disclosed this, yesterday, at a parley with elders in the state, explained that the N5 billion was given in principle to provide succour to the poorest of the poor and to mitigate hardship in the country.

According to him, Plateau has, so far, received N2 billion of the N5 billion, which has 52 per cent drive component.

He said: “The Federal Government allocated N5 billion in palliatives to each state of the federation. The money was in principle given to every state for the purpose of giving palliatives to the poorest of the poor. We have so far received N2 billion. The N5 billion has a 52 per cent drive component, while 48 per cent is a loan component that must be repaid.

“So, it is not a free launch; we were allocated 3,000 bags of rice for the whole state. We were mandated to use N1 billion of the N5 billion to buy rice locally”.

The intention of the Federal Government is that the N1 billion should not be given to one contractor; we must share it around, so that money can circulate in the local economy.”

The governor vowed that not a single kobo of the N5 billion would be misused, noting that the rice had already been shared with various local councils.

He added that the government would further look into the issue of bursaries for students and fertiliser for farmers at a subsidised rate.