Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, said he never ordered anybody to disrupt the Federal Government’s social security scheme, also known as Tradermoni, in the state.
Amosun, who said he got information, on Tuesday, that some politicians and suspected hoodlums had stormed the popular Lafenwa Market, in Abeokuta, the state capital, and demanded the traders’ permanent voter cards (PVCs) in return for money, said the programme was not Tradermoni, but a ploy to induce the electorate ahead of tomorrow’s election.
Hoodlums suspected to be political thugs were reported to have stormed the venue of the federal government’s Tradermoni scheme at the market, on Tuesday, and disrupted the empowerment programme.
But the governor, speaking with newsmen, yesterday, insisted that the programme was not federal government’s empowerment programme.
He said ‘TraderMoni’ is a structured programme that does not request beneficiaries’ PVC numbers and details.
He argued that as a governor, he cannot sit idly and allow disservice to be done to the lofty idea of President Muhammadu Buhari, allegeing that some politicians were behind the “fake Tradermoni programme” to con voters few days to election.
“Yesterday, you read in the papers that Ogun state governor, Amosun disrupted Tradermoni. Tradermoni is not just done by putting pen to paper.
“Some hoodlums just went there, let me use that English, they called us from the market that some people came o, to say they should bring their PVCs, bring their names, bring their numbers.
“Of course, I know the vice president handles Tradermoni; that’s not how it is done. It is a structured programme.
“Not two days to elections, some people would just carry one paper, give them exercise book, bring your PVC, write your name.
“How can I sit down as a governor and allow that to happen? They called that some people came and asked them to bring their PVCs.
“And I said don’t worry, come and see me. When they came, they told us what was happening, that some people phoned them to bring their PVCs, that they should be writing their names and phone numbers.
“That is not Tradermoni; that would be a disservice to the lofty ideals of why Tradermoni was put together.
“It was just a way to con our people to part with their PVCs. I just told them, ignore them. That was all,” Amosun said.