President Tinubu Spent N9.74billion Supplying Rice & Other Palliatives To Nigerians In 2024

According to the report, a large portion of the funds was dedicated to supplying essential food staples such as rice, beans, maize, and other commodities. 

The President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government reportedly spent a total of N9.74billion for the procurement and distribution of food items as part of its efforts to mitigate the nationwide food crisis in 2024. 

This was revealed by BudgIT on its platform, GovSpend, a civic-tech organisation advocating for transparency and accountability.

According to the report, a large portion of the funds was dedicated to supplying essential food staples such as rice, beans, maize, and other commodities.

The report showed that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security led the initiatives, making multiple payments to contractors responsible for the emergency supply of palliative foodstuffs to various federal constituencies. 

Key transactions included payments for the delivery of rice, beans, and garri to help alleviate hunger in vulnerable communities.
Payments, averaging around N85.45 million per constituency, were made between February and November 2024 across different regions. 

Data from the platform reportedly indicate that N85,454,545.46 was spent on each constituency in states including Kano, Ogun, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Adamawa, Kaduna, Jigawa, Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos, Bauchi, Rivers, Borno, Sokoto, and Enugu, bringing the total expenditure to N9.74 billion. 

However, despite the significant financial outlay, there are concerns about the programme’s effectiveness in addressing the root causes of food insecurity.

Shedrach Israel, an economist at Lotus Beta Analytics, argued that food palliatives alone cannot solve Nigeria’s food crisis, according to PUNCH. 

SAHARA REPORTERS/PUNCH