Controversies have continued to trail President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s distribution of COVID-19 lockdown palliatives as items sent to all states in the South West of Nigeria were said to have included rotten rice.

Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo states, The Street Reporters Newspaper learnt, were set to return to rotten rice to the Federal Government while Lagos State Government, reports say, has dumpped own portion inside Lagoon.

The Oyo State Government was first to cry out over the development after the state decided to return all 1, 800 bags of rotten rice donated to it by the President Buhari government to cushion the effect of covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Oyo State Government had in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Agric Business, Dr. Debo Akande disclosed that the rice have been infected by weevil and other pests making them unhealthy for human consumption.

The State Governor, Seyi Makinde, was being accused of politicising the issue being one of Nigeria’s main opposition party government in the All Progressives Congress led country.

However, The Street Reporters Newspaper gathered that the decision to reject the rice was taken during a virtual meeting held by the Nigerian Governors Forum presided over by their Chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi with the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osibajo, SAN.

The Ekiti State Governor is of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

It was further gathered that 85% of the palliative rice for Ondo State, also of the ruling party, was infected by pests and have now green in colour.

It was equally gathered that the ruling party governors preferred to threat the matter secretly in order not to embarrass the Federal Government opting not to address the matter publicly.

But findings by The Street Reporters Newspaper indicate that the South West governors unanimously pleaded with the Oyo State Governor to made the development public.

It was gathered that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have been briefed on the rotten rice saga.

“Lagos is not returning their own, they are dumping everything inside Lagoon.

“Osun, Ogun and Ekiti are returning their portions to Lagos where it was disbursed,” a member of the ruling party who did not want to be named said.

Earlier controversies generated by the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives to the poor in the country came from conditional Cash Transfer scheme of the federal government and its school feeding programme.

While some leaders in the southern Nigeria accused the Federal Government of concentrating the palliatives disbursement in the North, other poor citizens across the country have denied receiving cash transfers.

The government has been accused of giving out cash to a few poor citizens to corruptly enrich government officials as such monies can never be properly accounted for.

Another knock on the federal government came from Citizens who accused the government of ordering a lockdown in two South West States of Lagos and Ogun without palliatives but was disbursing cash in states like Nasarawa, a state not on lockdown.