The Abia State government has stated that it has not yet received any truckloads of rice from the Nigerian government, contradicting earlier reports and raising concerns about the distribution process.

According to the Abia State Government, it has not yet been given 20 trucks of rice as relief by the Federal Government.

According to Prince Okey Kanu, the State Commissioner for Information, there has been no arrival of such palliative in the state. Additionally, he mentioned that the Federal Government did not communicate any information regarding this matter.

Rephrased: Reports claiming that the Federal Government had distributed 50kg bags of rice to states for sale at a price of N40,000 were dismissed as fake news by him.

There was no rice truck from the Federal Government that we saw. The claim of selling a 50kg bag of rice for N40,000 is untrue information.

According to him, “We refrain from addressing hearsay and conjecture. When it comes to palliatives, the federal government has a specific means of communicating with us, but we have not received any communication on this matter.”

When asked if it was inappropriate for the government to establish communication with federal authorities regarding the matter, the commissioner dismissed this as needless.

“It is pointless for us to waste time verifying the news. If it were true, we would have received a direct message from the federal government as they are responsible for providing authentic information.”

When asked about the steps being taken by the state government to ease economic suffering for residents of Abia, he explained that they focus on imparting skills along with providing palliative measures. The philosophy is centered around teaching people how to fish rather than just giving them a fish.