As the Christmas holidays and New Year festivities have come to an end, tension is gradually building up in Imo State.
This time, it has shifted from Insecurity tension to political as constituents gear up to confront federal lawmakers in the state said to be among those who received bumper Christmas packages in form of bags of rice, the President of the country, Senator Bola Tinubu made available to the masses through them.
The video featuring Rep. Dekeri Anamero of Etsako Federal Constituency blew the lid open to reveal that President Bola Tinubu provided each member with two trailers of rice for distribution to their constituents.
The House of Representatives while confirming the development clarified that members received rice from the Federal Government as part of a nationwide palliative effort.
Akin Rotimi, Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity, made the clarification in a recent statement in Abuja.
Rotimi, however, said the rice distribution was made possible due to the Speaker’s lobbying efforts to secure additional palliatives for constituencies across the country.
He said the process, overseen by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, adhered to established public procurement regulations.
He added that legislators have the right to be present during distribution to take credit for bringing succour to the people.
The Reps Member further said the procurement process is at different stages, depending on the constituency, but to be clear, no legislator has been given any money for palliatives.
The video of the lawmaker from Edo engaging in the distribution to his constituents sparked off concern from several constituents, especially, those from Imo State who are yet to see any of the federal lawmakers from Imo State do same.
Trumpeta learnt that as at the time of this report, no federal lawmaker from Imo has been able to undertake the distribution to constituents.
This newspaper learnt that instead of informing the masses and giving them updates on the rice distribution courtesy of President Tinubu, most of them kept away from the localities during the yuledite.
Investigation however revealed that the few who gave out rice did so as their own kind gestures to the constituents without giving kudos to president Tinubu for the items.
Party chieftains and officials are asking for the rice package before the federal lawmakers leave the state for Abuja after the holidays.
