Official debunks alleged suspension of School Feeding Programme in Akwa Ibom

Dr Godwin Akpan, an official of the Social Investment Programme (SIP) of the Federal Government, says it is not true that the National School Feeding Programme has been suspended in Akwa Ibom.

Akpan, the State Focal Person on National Home Grown School Feeding programmes (NHGSFP) debunked a publication of the alleged suspension of the programme in a statement in Uyo on Saturday.

He described the allegation as baseless and cautioned against the publication of unsubstantiated allegations.

Akpan explained that the purported suspension of Akwa Ibom from the programme allegedly due to poor quality of food was “misleading and untrue’’.

He said that the alleged delay by the Akwa Ibom Government in releasing money for vendors as published in some media was far from the truth.

Akpan noted that the role of Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom in the sustenance of the programme in the state could not be over emphasised.

“The misleading information is not only embarrassing to Akwa Ibom Government but seen as a deliberate plot by certain unpatriotic individuals to distort the true picture of the Home Grown School Feeding Programme in the state,’’ he said.

Akpan urged Akwa Ibom food vendors, care givers and the general public to discountenance the purported suspension of the state from the school feeding programme.

He, however, said that there is an ongoing verification and reconciliation between the states, Universal Basic Education Boards, National Bureau of Statistics and National Home Grown School Feeding Programme Office.