TheCable

Ibikunle Amosun, Ogun state governor, has described as “mischievous” reports that the bags of rice recently displayed by the state government is fake.

Some critics of the current administration in the state had said the rice pyramid recently mounted by the government is mixed with sands.

They also said the Mitros rice locally produced by the state is not available for sales anywhere in Ogun.

But speaking on Saturday in Abeokuta, the state capital, Amosun said the reports were effort by “mischievous” persons to “de-market” the state.

The governor, who was speaking at the 2018 media workshop of the state house press corps, also said the rice yield in the state this year surpassed that of 2017.

Represented by Dayo Adeneye, the state commissioner for information and strategy, Amosun said: “I’m just urging our colleagues, we were able to take you round and you saw for yourselves what obtains; you saw the processes, the farmers and how grateful they were to this administration for empowering them.

“They were also grateful to the federal government programme IFAD, FADAMA for empowering them and helping them to achieve what they have been able to achieve with Mitros rice.

“You also saw the processing plant, the rice mill, the bagging process and all that.

“Some people are just being mischievous because we are approaching election year and they are trying to score cheap political points. The social media can either be used either as a weapon of mass destruction or weapon of mass development because people tend to believe everything they read on social media whether it is true or not.”

The governor also said Godwin Emefiele, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, had come to the state to verify the rice production, adding: “Rather than encouraging this administration to do more, they think they can score cheap political points by de-marketing this state and publishing false and fake stories.”