Barring any last-minute change, the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) has perfected plans to commence sharing of emergency cash palliative to over five thousand individuals across the 16 Local Government Areas of Kwara state.
The disbursement is coming on the heels of unprecedented public outcry against the State Governor, AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq over the controversial spending of N17.8billion Naira on the Kwara Hotel renovation contract. Abdulwaheed Sulaiman reports.
This latest move, according to a top government source, allegedly targeted to dousing the tension arising from the controversial spending on the Kwara Hotel facility, a move that has generated heated debate among Kwarans.
Recall that the Kwara State Government had awarded the renovation and concession of the state-owned facility to a foreign construction company, Craneburg Construction Group for the contract sum of N17.8 billion.
However, the contract was earlier reportedly awarded to Crystal Group Limited, a hospitality company owned by top APC chieftain, Hon. Mashood Mustapha, after approval by the State Executive Council and subsequent legislative consent before the recent revocation of approval by the Kwara State House of Assembly.
It was exclusively learnt that beneficiaries of the latest emergency cash palliative by the Kwara State Government include APC members and stakeholders, market men and women, artisans, religious leaders, Islamic clerics, and youth leaders among others.
THE ELITES WATCH in its latest report uncovered plans by the Kwara State government to spend .5bn to sponsor over a hundred members of the All Progressive Congress, APC, including notable clerics for the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. A development which has been described as an “obligation” by the Chief Press Secretary to Kwara State Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye.
However, the top government source claimed the emergency cash palliative will gulp a total sum of N250 million naira and the selection process has been concluded by the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP), a state-funded agency created to empower the poor, young people, and vulnerable elders.
It was further learnt that several groups and organisations have been contacted and gifted with slots ranging between twenty and one hundred per organization depending on their numerical strength.
“Most of the clerics who’re shouting now, when they have this cash palliative with their students also benefiting, they will keep quiet. Most of them have been crying of hunger and the harsh economy, it takes a token to keep them in check. This is not the first time we’ve experienced this, and our approach to treating this ugly development won’t be any different,” the source who preferred not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue exclusively told THE ELITES WATCH.
When contacted for a reaction, the General Manager of the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP), Dr. Abdulwasiu Olayinka Tejidini did not respond to text messages and posers sent to his microblog platform, WhatsApp were not attended to as at press time
