…The fact that there were weevils in some of the bags of rice did not mean that the whole bags of rice were not good for consumption – Customs
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Oyo/Osun Area Command of the Nigerian Customs Services, on Saturday described as untrue the claim by the Oyo State Government that the 1,800 bags of rice donated to the state as palliative by the Federal Government were infested with weevils and not good for human consumption.
The APC and Customs said the bags of rice were still good and had not been infested with anything harmful as claimed by the state governor, Mr Seyi Makinde.
The APC on their part alleged that the state government is politicizing the Federal Government’s palliative to the state.
In a statement on Saturday, by its Publicity Secretary, AbdulAzeez Olatunde, the party said, “This is another point to buttress our observations of unnecessary politicking of COVID-19 pandemic by the Oyo State Government.”
The Public Relations Officer, NSC, Oyo/Osun Area Command, Abdullahi Musa, however said the fact that there were weevils in some of the bags of rice did not mean that the whole bags of rice were not good for consumption.
Musa stated, “The Executive Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on Agribusiness, Dr Debo Akande, together with the Special Adviser to the governor on Security, Fatai Owoseni, had earlier come to our office to check the rice before it was evacuated from our warehouse.
“We were shocked to hear that the rice was not good for consumption. The rice has not expired. How can we release expired rice to the public? This is very annoying.
“Oyo/Osun command has two warehouses, so the government’s representatives chose the rice that they wanted. Oyo State was the first to evacuate their rice before other states came.”
Musa however said efforts were ongoing to address the issue.
