TheCable

Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, says the federal government’s conditional cash transfer initiative has not been equitably distributed.

The governor said this on Tuesday when he received Muheeba Dankaka, executive chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), at the government house in Benin, the Edo capital.

In September 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari had said 1.6 million households were receiving N5,000 monthly under the scheme.

Speaking on the programme, Obaseki said there is a need to review the distribution process.

“In terms of fair distribution of social services, the commission has not done much. So, it should focus on that area,” he said.

“You are focusing on these social services and amenities at a time when the economy of the nation is depressed and not growing at all.

“Some of the things that happened in the recent past can’t be spoken about publicly. I urge the commission never to allow what happened during the sharing of conditional cash transfer from the federal government to happen again.

“Nigerians are not happy and are angry with the way the conditional cash transfer and sharing of social and economic amenities were handled. The commission needs to look at that and never allow it to happen again.”

Obaseki also said Dankaka’s visit came at the right time because it is necessary to address the lingering issues troubling Nigerians.

“Our founding fathers thought it wise that, in order to preserve the unity of this country, they needed to create a commission that would complement the policy which ensured that every Nigerian will feel that they are part of the country,” he added.

“This was done so that whatever belongs to the country would be equitably and fairly distributed to all parts of the country.

“Thank you for keeping the spirit of the constitution alive and trying to enforce the constitution, although many people feel marginalised in spite of the efforts of the commission.

“Nigerians feel they are not getting what is due to them. The cake we are trying to share in this country is becoming too small as our focus is to build a bigger cake that will be equitably shared.

“Everybody should be made to contribute something to the national cake for it to be enough for us to share.”