MURIC charges lawmakers to share rice, other food items provided by President Tinubu 

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on members of the National Assembly (NASS) to ensure the equitable distribution of the thousands of bags of rice and other food items recently provided to them by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, the Executive Director of MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, highlighted the need for transparency and fairness in the allocation of food relief items.

“Each of Nigeria’s 109 Senators reportedly received N200 million worth of food items, while their 360 counterparts in the House of Representatives were given N100 million worth each,” Akintola stated.

MURIC in the statement demands urgent and immediate clarification from the leaderships of both Senate and the House of Representatives over contradictory claims by some lawmakers regarding the receipt of palliatives.

“MURIC demands urgent and immediate clarification from the leaderships of both Senate and the House of Representatives. Where are their spokespersons? They must speak up before it is too late. Delay is dangerous. Nigerians are hungry. This is the kind of thing that provokes the people. Procrastination is the thief of time. Anarchists look for lacuna like this to spread their tales of horror in order to incite the masses against the government.

“We appeal to the remaining members of the House who have received the palliatives to quickly begin the sharing among their constituents. We also remind them to add publicity to the exercise. This release of a humongous number of bags of foodstuffs deserves an equally aggressive information outflow.

“There are too many enemies of progress out there spreading falsehood and the only way to silence them is to spread information about positive acts of government whenever it happens.

“Meanwhile we appeal to the good Nigerian people to exercise a little patience while the logistics are being sorted out by the lawmakers. This is definitely no fault of the government. Tinubu and Shettima have done what they should do by rolling out palliatives. The rest is in the hands of our lawmakers.

MURIC will like to assure Nigerians that we will not stop calling out the lawmakers until they distribute what they have received. We are not just here for Allah-given fundamental rights of Muslims alone. We are also here for the welfare of every single Nigerian regardless of creed, ethnicity or gender.

“Our vision of Nigeria is that of a nation where people live together in peace and harmony, a nation in which no one is oppressed, where every citizen enjoys Allah-given fundamental human rights regardless of class, creed, or ethnicity.

“We remain oppressed until those golden principles of Islamic liberation theology are actualized, namely, freedom of worship for all, emancipation for the oppressed, justice for the persecuted, jobs for the jobless, food for the hungry, healing for the sick, clothing apparels for the naked and shelter for the homeless.”