Accuracy And Sincerity Of Arithmetic Of Hon Chris Nkwonta’s Distribution Of Federal Government’s Palliatives In Ukwa-East/Ukwa-West Federal Constituency
By Don Ubani
Nigeria would be a very good place to live in if only her Leaders could improve in their level of sincerity in handling the country’s collective resources. Of course, sincerity has to be inseparably accompanied by accountability.
In this God-made great country, many who have the grace of occupying strategic offices, do not ever realize that a day of reckoning awaits every occupant of Government Office. If Nigerians could develop this very simple but important mindset, the reckless impunity with which financial atrocities are committed in the country would become a thing of the past.
Much thanks to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, many palliative measures were provided in order to cushion the effect of removal of Subsidy on Petroleum products, especially Premium Motor Spirit, PMS. The President knowing that Federal Parliamentarians have a direct touch with Nigerians they represent, used them to reach to the grassroots.
For those in the House of Representatives, intelligence available to WWW.equityreporters.ng was that money formally to allocated each Member was about Eighty-four Million Naira, and that was after Value Added Tax, VAT, had been removed.
Again, equityreporters had learnt that some Members of the House of Representatives had, just in order to go home with some gifts for their constituents during last yuletide, gone ahead to collect about Fifty Million Naira from the relevant palliative- disbursing authorities, leaving as much a huge balance as Thirty-four Million Naira. No body should blame them because elevation in politics may not necessarily smack of wealthy background.
With the advent of Social Media, the World has been completely reduced to a global informative village. Anything done in any part of Nigeria today, may not take more than one hour to start trending in London, Paris or Washington DC. That is the reality of the new World Information Order. To this effect, whatever palliatives that were shared by Members of House of Representatives from other Federal Constituencies last December became an open secret to Constituents of Ukwa-East/Ukwa-West Federal Constituency.
So, when the Members that got the said Fifty Million Naira per Federal Constituency started sharing the gift items they had procured to their constituents last Christmas, Constituents of Ukwa-East and Ukwa-West Federal Constituency were, as naturally would be expected, a bit inquisitive to know if the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Palliatives would not reach them.
Being a Man that has always been considerate and sensitive to the feelings of people around him and ever being conscious of the contemporary economic realities in Nigeria, the Honourable Member representing the very good Peoples of Ukwa-East and Ukwa-West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Chief Chris Nkwonta, spontaneously invited his Constituents to a meeting last Christmas in his Akwete country-home and detailedly explained to them that he had not collected any dime from the Federal Government as Palliatives. He informed them that any attempt he would make to collect the money meant for the palliatives without allowing due process to be followed, could avoidably amount to short-changing his Constituents, as the money would not be released en bloc.
Even at that, and being a well established Multi-Billionaire long before being elected into the House of Representatives in 2023, he had used his personal resources to procure about One Hundred Bags of Rice for his Constituents. He also shared Millions of Naira to the Constituents. Characteristic of his humility, he pleaded with them to exercise patience, as he equally assured them that as soon as bureaucracy is completed on the palliatives meant for them and, subsequently, released, he would not hesitate even for a second to invite them to come and take possession of what is meant for them. He also positively alluded to equityreporters’ earlier finding that the amount of money involved in the palliatives was about Eighty-four Million Naira.
True to his assurance, Hon Chris Nkwonta last Monday, 15th April, 2024, despatched invitations to Stakeholders and Constituents in Ukwa-East and Ukwa-West Federal Constituency, informing them that the palliatives have been fully secured.
Physically available for sharing were Six Hundred Bags of Rice, Forty Brand New Motor-Cycles and an average of One Million Naira per seven Stakeholders in each of the Twenty Electoral Wards in his Constituency, including two female farmers in each of the Electoral Ward that were each given N50,000.00.
A price survey carried out by WWW.equityreporters.ng showed that each of the forty Motor-Cycles cost N850,000.00, giving a total of N34,000,000.00, while each of the 600 bags of Rice was procured at a large scale economy price of N50,000.00 per bag, giving a total of N30,000,000.00.
By a simple sincere arithmetic of what Hon Chris Nkwonta shared to his Constituents last Monday, the sum of Eighty-four Million Naira was visibly and convincingly utilized for the benefit of his Constituents.
Apart from the honesty, transparency and accountability exhibited by Hon Chris Nkwonta in the course of the exercise, he, in an unmistakable term, instructed that the Traditional Rulers must be carried along. Above all, Hon Chris Nkwonta, in response to expression of gratitude by his Constituents, asked them to thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as one whose Government provided the Palliatives.
Hon Chris Nkwonta has, therefore, willy-nilly, established a moral standard that should serve as a roadmap for other Legislators and Occupants of Public Offices in Nigeria. Any Government Official wishing to give palliatives to his Constituents in future should, like Hon Chris Nkwonta, disclose its source and the amount released for the programme. This is what Transparency and Public Accountability is all about.
