The Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Special needs, in Osun State, Mr. Yemi Lawal has appeared before the State House of Assembly on Thursday to defend the palliative disbursement strategies of the state government.
While briefing the state lawmakers on the modalities employed by the ministry in disbursing cash to the vulnerable in the state, Lawal said the process is transparent and accountable.
Lawal noted that the data used for the disbursement was first captured in 2014 by World bank consultant for the poorest of the poor, stressing that data has gone through yearly upgrading up until 2019.
He also posited that manual cash disbursement has been replaced with debit cards for accountability and easy tracking of people who the money paid into their various accounts.
The commissioner said that the cash transfer to the vulnerable and people living with disabilities in the state is not political but economical.
“In 2014 while the register was being compiled, people refused to come forth because they don’t want to be labeled as poor and vulnerable, only people who were brave then came out to be captured.
“The data is being validated on a yearly basis, all the beneficiaries on the list have been verified and certified to be alive,” the Commissioner told members of the House of Assembly
Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the 14 days lockdown of Osun by Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, the Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye has appealed to residents and citizens of the state to abide by the provisions of the lockdown order.
The Speaker stated that the 14 days extension of the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic must not be seen as government insensitivity to the plight of the masses, saying that it is better to stay at home for 14 days than being bedridden for 14 years.
He said, “The state will be going into another round of lockdown, I want to appeal to our people to abide by the rules and regulations guiding the lockdown, government might have seen what the populace have not seen, it may not be on the numbers of people who have contracted the virus, but adequately containing the spread in our communities.
“The lockdown will start tomorrow, we should all have it at the back of our minds that government is not using the lockdown order to punish people of the state, if we strictly adhere to precautionary measures, we will come out of the situation alive and stronger”.
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