Sokoto State Governor, Dr Ahmed Aliyu, on Monday, inaugurated a special committee on the sales of assorted food items to the people of the state at 55 per cent discount rates.
The governor also said his government has procured food items and other essential commodities meant to be sold at a 55% discounted rate to the public.
Speaking during the inauguration, the governor reiterated that the sales of the foodstuffs are meant for every resident of the state irrespective of their political or ethnic differences.
He said his administration has introduced various methods of palliatives to the people of the state to address the effects of subsidy removal and the global economic meltdown.
Aliyu said, “We are all aware that since the inception of the present political dispensation, several economic upsets were witnessed nationally and internationally owing to the changing pattern of global economic indices and contraction of fortunes of the global finances.
“However, certain national reform policies initiated by the Federal Government to redirect the economic and social fortunes of the country for future growth and development could not pacify the situation in the country. Policies such as the removal of fuel subsidy, electricity tariffs and others, subjected our people to varying economic hardships and numerous tests of livelihood.
“We are all living witness to the fact that numerous efforts in the form of Palliatives were initiated and executed by both the Federal and State Governments to cushion the effect of the hardship.
“Considering the social indices of our state and certain peculiarities, the state government extended various palliatives of different commodities to all corners and cronies of the state free of charge and procured mass transit vehicles whose services were subsidised to ease transportation difficulties of our people within the state and beyond,” among others.
The governor added, “In this new approach, the state government procured food items and other essential commodities meant to be sold at a 55% discounted rate to enable families to access the commodities for the well-being of their members.
“The state government is committed to sustaining the supply of the commodities to all the 244 wards in the state with guaranteed access to all families irrespective of any social differences and/or political affiliations. I would like to assure all that the initiative will be sustained until when the economic situation improves in the country*
The governor, however, called on all the well-to-do individuals and corporate bodies in the communities to, not only support the programme but, also complement the efforts of the state government by way of extending the provision of such basic food items and other essential commodities to the needy and less-privileged in their communities.
In his remarks, the committee chairman, Chiso Dattijo, commended the state governor on this move which he described as the right direction at the right time, assuring that the committee will work assiduously to ensure it delivers on the assignment.
