Fayose: 'Buhari's school feeding programme a fraud,' Governor says.

He said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration erred for asking state governments for a 40 per cent counterpart funding of the project.

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has put the entire burden of the proposed school feeding programme on the Federal Government, saying states would not co-fund it.

He said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration erred for asking state governments for a 40 per cent counterpart funding of the project.

“The Federal Government is already looking for excuses for the impending failure of the programme by asking states to contribute 40 per cent to the scheme,” Fayose said in a statement on Sunday, June 12.

The Governor stated that the All Progressives Congress-led government made the school feeding promise to Nigerians without consulting the states, insisting that the party should shoulder the responsibility alone.

“Were the states consulted before the APC made the promise during the presidential campaign?” the governor queried.

“How can you make a promise and win election on the basis of that promise and now expect states to help you to fulfil the promise? That to me is fraud.”

He said Ekiti and other states in the country deserve to benefit from the programme without assisting the federal government with any 40 per cent counterpart funding.

Fayose further said that the Buhari-led Government should admits failure, adding that proper study was on the practicability of the scheme was not before made promises.

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“Apart from the fact that Ekiti State lacked the financial wherewithal to provide counterpart fund for such a programme, it is the duty of President Mohammed Buhari and his APC that won election on the basis of their promise to give free meal to school pupils to fulfill the promise without placing any burden on other tiers of government,” he said.

“Nigerians should come to terms with the reality that the federal government is already looking for a ready alibi for the impending failure of the school feeding programme.

“The federal government knows that 80 per cent of the states lack the financial will to be able to contribute the 40 per cent counterpart fund for the programme and the time the programme eventually fails, Nigerians will be told that it failed because states did not key in to it.

“As for us in Ekiti, we are interested in the programme because Nigeria belongs to all of us. But we won’t contribute any counterpart fund because the programme is solely an electoral promise of the APC and we were never consulted before the promise was made."

He stressed that Ekiti cannot contribute even as low as ten percent fund due to its terrible financial condition.