Emerging reports have it that a gubernatorial candidate and one time governor of Ekiti, Ayo Fayose may have shared expired rice to his political supporters in the state.
Fayose courted controversy when he distributed bags of rice in a bid to secure votes among the electorate.
However, a rumour is making the round that the rice shared by him had expired since 2006.
Some Twitter users said:
Udeh Ikem arrested over importing Thai rice that expired in 2006 and distributed by Fayose in Ekiti
Udeh Ikem arrested over importing Thai rice that expired in 2006 and distributed by Fayose in Ekiti
#BewareOfPDPrice: Bags of rice being distributed by the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Ekiti State, Mr. Ayod Fayose, has expired since 2006,
According to reports:
Thai officials have announced the arrest of a crooked businessman, Udeh Ikem, who is the Chairman of Udeh and Sons Holdings, over the illegal purchase of 30 tons of expired rice from Thailand for export to the Nigerian market.
It is believed that part of the rice, said to have expired since 2006, is at the heart of the alleged unsafe rice said to have been distributed by the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose.
The head of the Public Affairs Section of the Thailand Embassy, Mr. Chun Kun Yrung, in a letter to the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and NAFDAC, stated that the rice had expired and that they were bought from unscrupulous business men after the Thailand Agency for Food and Drugs had ordered they should be destroyed.
“A Nigerian man bought the expired rice from Dai Sun central store in Chiangmai, North of Thailand. The 30 tons of rice were meant to be destroyed by the Thailand Ministry of Commerce and Trade.
Unfortunately, a Nigerian business man, Chief Udeh Ikem, who is the Chairman of Udeh and Sons Holdings, bought the consignment illegally in collaboration with some corrupt Thai officials. As at now, the business man has been arrested in Bangkok and he will be prosecuted by the Thailand police authorities”, the Thailand Embassy stated.
Mr Fayose recently distributed some 30,000 bags of rice to students and market women in the state ahead of this Saturday’s governorship election.
But the Thailand Agency for Food Quality and Control, (TAFQC) said it was worried that the rice could harm Nigerians, hence the need to send a strong protest to the Federal Government on the importation of several “fake, dangerous and harmful” bags of expired rice being imported to Nigeria for human consumption.
The Thailand government said it was disturbed that Nigerian politicians are buying expired food stuff from Asia without consideration for the impact on the health of consumers.
Another report has it that:
The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Youth Caucus leader, Mr Williams Akintunde, said:
“Fayose had placed the trucks conveying the rice in a graveyard for seven days where many spiritualists were invited to perform all sorts of rituals on the bags of rice”.
“The bags of rice are not good for the spiritual wellbeing of Ekiti people. The rice is harmful. Mr. Fayose has brought these bags of rice to destroy the lives of young people in Ekiti State. They must be careful so that they do not become zombies after eating Fayose’s rice,” the group said in a statement last week.
It has also been claimed that some people have fallen sick after consuming the rice:
Three persons in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, and one each in Ido and Ikole, all in Ekiti State are now receiving treatment in hospitals after the weekend rice meal that turned awry.
During a visit to a private clinic in Ado-Ekiti where one of the victims is being treated, relatives of the victim said the student (name withheld) started complaining of stomach pain four hours after taking the meal. The same symptom was reported in the victims at Ikole-Ekiti and Ido-Ekiti.
The victims, all students, said they were some of the beneficiaries of rice distributed by the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Ayo Fayose, to members of his party as part of campaign strategy ahead of the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State.
Neither Mr. Fayose nor anyone in his camp has responded to the weighty allegations.
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