Nasarawa Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has supervised the distribution of 30,000 bags of 10kg rice donated by the Aliko Dangote Foundation to vulnerable citizens across the 13 council areas of the state, with a strong warning that the palliative must reach the intended beneficiaries.

The governor, while delivering his address at the Government House Parade Ground in Lafia, directed that each local council should take delivery of 2,300 bags of rice, with chairmen given the responsibility of ensuring the commodity gets to the poorest people in their communities.

Sule apologised to the people, especially Christians, for holding the event on a Sunday afternoon, explaining that he had to attend the distribution personally before travelling out of the country.

The governor disclosed that Aliko Dangote had personally called him and insisted that no representative from the foundation should be sent to Nasarawa for the distribution because of his relationship with the governor and the Emir of Lafia.

He said: “In our state, we had assigned the Commissioner for Environment to receive them, just like she did last year. But all of a sudden, Alhaji Aliko Dangote himself called and said that in Nasarawa State, where he has my father, the Emir of Lafia, and he has me, there is no way he can send a representative. So, he said we should try to distribute this rice without the presence of anyone from the foundation, because we are members of the Dangote Foundation.”