Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, unveiled a 12-member committee in Ilorin on Tuesday to distribute Federal Government's N5 billion fuel subsidy removal palliatives to the needy in the state.

Members of the committee were drawn from security agencies, represented by the state's Commissioner of Police, Mr Ebunoluwa Adelesi, traditional and religious institutions.

Others are representatives of Civil Society Organisations, Labour, People Living with Disabilities and the media.

“The committee's terms of reference include reaching out to different stakeholders and communities, including labour and trade unions and marketers to generate a list of beneficiaries that would be as representative as possible.

“It will coordinate and distribute rice palliatives in 10kg bags and advise the government on the best way to handle the maize component of the palliative.

“The timeframe for the assignment will be determined by different factors.

“One of the factors is the receipt of the balance of N2 billion to be given to the state, which would then be used to purchase new consignments of foodstuffs,'' Gov. AbdulRazaq said.

The governor noted that the N5 billion palliative was just one of the many steps the Federal Government had taken to relieve people of the difficulties arising from the fuel subsidy removal.

He assured that the distribution of the palliatives would be nonpartisan, transparent and credible.

“It is important to clarify that food palliatives are only a stopgap measure to show empathy and reach out to the people, especially the most vulnerable ones among us.

“Government is committing huge resources to hasten mass production and use of gas and electricity-powered vehicles nationwide as well boosting agricultural productivity and manufacturing.

“I plead that we work together as one people bounded by one destiny to get over this current challenge,'' AbdulRazaq admonished.

Responding on behalf of members of the committee, the commissioner of police commended the state government for finding the committee worthy and for having trust in its members.

“We promise to be transparent. We are not going to let the state down.

“We shall abide by the terms of reference and we will come clean with members of the public to let them know what we are doing,'' Adelesi assured.

NAN