The Oyo State government has said the sum of N8,633,996,464 was earmarked for palliatives by the Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery committee in the state.
The commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade, disclosed this during a press briefing after the executive council meeting on Wednesday.
The Commissioner said Local Government Areas in the State, infused the sum of N2,636,871,500, into food palliatives, while the state government expended N5,997,124,964.
Recall that last week, Governor Seyi Makinde in a statement, promised that full implementation of palliative distribution will begin this week.
Oyelade therefore hinted that Governor Seyi Makinde and some principal officers of the State government will flag off the distribution of palliatives tomorrow (Wednesday), while full distribution in each geo-political zone will commence on Thursday, which will cover 200, 000 households in the first phase.
Prince Oyelade emphasised that the distribution will be done in different batches, to bring succour to citizens of Oyo State.
Oyelade also the distribution is aimed at alleviating the pains of residents of the state over fuel subsidy removal by the federal government.
“If you assume that every family has about 6 members, we are talking about over 1 million people to be affected by the initial rollout of palliative,” Oyelade said.
He said items to be distributed include 10kg rice, 5 kg of garri, 5kg beans, 5kg yam powder and 1 ltr of vegetable oil.
Prince Oyelade said the flag-off, targeted at the poorest of the poor in the society, will be simultaneously done in all the major zones including Oyo, Oke-Ogun, Ogbomoso, Ibarapa, Ibadan main and less cities.
He said the Deputy Governor, Bayo Lawal will flag off the distribution in Saki; while the Chief of Staff will ensure the flag-off in Ogbomoso.
The Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Debo Ogundoyin will flag off the distribution in Ibarapa, while the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Wasiu Olatubosun will flag off the distribution in Ibadan North-West.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Prof Musibau Babatunde, while giving a breakdown of the total budget, said food palliatives will cost a total of N5,273,743,000.
He however said Local Government Areas in the state paid a counterpart fund of N2,636,871, 500.
Musibau said the government earmarked N149,199,682 for the transportation sub-committee.
He said the budget includes logistics, branding of buses, personnel, and diesel costs.
On Food Security, which will cater for Agropreneurs and Small and Medium scale enterprises, and farmers, the Oyo State Government has earmarked the sum of N1,701,053,782 while loans to be rolled out to SMEs will cost N 510,000,000.
