Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has explained why he decided to stop Ramadan Feeding in the state because it has become a means of stealing public funds.
Last Week, the governor announced that he will stop the practice of distributing food items during Ramadan.
Although the decision attracted criticism from Kaduna residents, el-Rufai, through his spokesman, Mr. Samuel Aruwan said over the years, Peoples Democratic Party has used Ramadan feeding as a means of siphoning state funds.
Aruwan said “Findings have revealed how it is mainly prominent politicians and influential personalities that benefit from the Ramadan and Christmas gifts instead of the so-called ‘poor’.
“Foodstuffs bought with public resources are distributed to prominent government officials and other personalities, while the poor in whose name those foods are procured queue in droves for crumbs and are constantly subjected to several forms of hardships and degrading circumstances after such sham gestures.
“The hundreds of millions of naira involved have not translated into visible feeding points in Kaduna.”
The governor said he has been working with friends so that they can feed the poor not as government officials but as private individuals.
He added that “This is a healthy way of building a caring society, and, if more widely adopted by people of means, will certainly provide for more persons than a fraudulent system of government provision that at best reaches only a few.
“The governor’s position is simple. He will not dip his hands into the public treasury or aid the swindling of public funds using religion as a cover.”
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