CACOVID speaks on palliatives in warehouses

27 Oct CACOVID speaks on palliatives in warehouses

The Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), has explained that the palliatives COVID-19 looted from many warehouses across the country were waiting for distribution.

A statement by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, reads in part:

“Members of the Private Sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) wish to call for calm, amidst the looting of COVID-19 palliatives meant for distribution in various State Government warehouses across the country.

“The Coalition is deeply concerned by the recent events and is urging those involved in the wanton destruction of public and private property to immediately desist from these raids, in order to allow the States to proceed with peaceful and fair distribution of these palliatives to the neediest and most vulnerable in our society.

“Over the past few months, the Private Sector, through CACOVID, has been working with all State Governors, the FCT Minister, and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, to procure, deliver and distribute these food relief items to almost 2 million most vulnerable families (over 10 million Nigerians) across the 774 Local Government Areas of the country, as part of the private sector’s support to the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The sheer scale of this nationwide food programme and the timing of the orders and deliveries, which coincided with the lockdowns and reduced movement across the country, compelled CACOVID to roll out distribution in a staggered manner, with States classified in three timed phases, to enable orderly delivery to the needy.

“At the time CACOVID embarked on the palliatives effort in April 2020, we decided to procure the food directly from the manufacturers, to avoid a distortion of prices in the market.

“Unfortunately, the very large size of the order, and the production cycle required to meet the demand, caused delays in delivering the food items to the States in an expeditious manner; hence the resultant delay in delivery of the food palliatives by the State Governors.

“For instance, Rice had to be milled, semolina and maize flour had to be processed, noodles and pasta had to be manufactured, and sugar had to be refined. As such, the first deliveries could not start until June. However, as of October 2020, a sizable portion of the items had been delivered but yet to be distributed by the Governors.

“Although various States and the FCT had commenced flag-off of the distribution of the food items since early August 2020, some could not conclude the distribution as they were yet to receive complete deliveries of the items allotted to them. In the interest of transparency and accountability, CACOVID will, in due course, be providing the full delivery schedule and flag-off dates by each state.

“It is very unfortunate that various States, including states that have concluded the distribution of their allocations, are seeing their warehouses and other premises being raided. It must also be noted that not every warehouse in Nigeria that contains palliatives is affiliated with the CACOVID donation, given that the states themselves, the Federal Government and other organizations have also made donations.

“In light of these unsavory developments, we would like to appeal for calm, and for States to be allowed to proceed with their palliatives distribution peacefully, even as each State will undoubtedly keep its citizens abreast of the distribution process to ensure transparency, accountability, and equity. We urge all to be law-abiding, to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, and to end the raiding of these warehouses.”

“The Coalition disavows, and urges the public to disregard, any unauthorized source of information regarding the current issue. CACOVID confirms this platform as the only one authorized to communicate on behalf of the group.”