Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has unveiled his administration’s strategy to revive the state-owned ‘Bulk Purchase Program’ under Gateway Trading.
Additionally, the governor announced plans to introduce an agriculture and food palliative aimed “at supporting our farmers so that we can boost food production.”
The Bulk Purchase program will enable the state government to procure food items at pre-deregulation prices, benefiting both consumers and agricultural producers.
“In terms of food palliatives, we are now going to reactivate our Bulk Purchase Program under Gateway Trading and through different channels and warehouses in different parts of the state. We will be selling food items like grains and rice that we will be purchasing from the Central Bank of Nigeria at pre-deregulation prices,” he said.
The governor further revealed that his administration had been working on an Energy Transition Plan for several months, aiming to shift from relying on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or diesel to power public transportation to utilizing Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
As part of this plan, the state government intends to convert privately-owned minibuses in the state to CNG-powered vehicles. The first batch of CNG vehicles will be unveiled during the week.
Governor Abiodun also shared his administration’s plan to introduce an infrastructure initiative that empowers community leaders, market women, and religious bodies to identify three roads in their respective areas requiring immediate intervention, such as reconstruction, repair, or maintenance. This initiative aims to enhance local involvement and ensure the timely improvement of crucial road infrastructure.
“We have what we call the Infrastructure Initiative. I have asked that each local government, in unison with leaders in that locality, community leaders, market women, and religious bodies, identify three roads in each local government for us to immediately begin to either reconstruct, repair, or maintain,” he said.
In addition to the N10,000 allowance provided for civil servants and pensioners, the governor emphasized that hazard allowances, peculiar allowances, and promotion allowances would also be duly paid to support them amid the rising transportation costs.
Furthermore, Governor Abiodun shared that civil servants have been advised to maintain approximately 80 percent attendance in their respective offices, allowing for a rotational system to reduce the number of individuals commuting to work daily. This measure aims to enhance efficiency while considering the challenges of daily commuting for the workforce.
