The Presidency, on Tuesday, said that state governments are not mandated to key into the National Home-grown School Feeding programme.

This was made known in a statement released by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande.

It comes on the heels of a recent statement made by the Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose, who vowed not to contribute to the programme.

The governor had questioned the honesty of federal government in putting in place the food programme.

Akande however, noted that the 2016 budget provided N93.1 billion for the programme.

“We want the states to embrace this programme, it is good for the people, it’s a win-win for everyone. School feeding programme is not a counterpart funding arrangement model, no.”

“What we have is a plan where the Federal Government provides 100 per cent feeding costs for pupils in primary one to three in all public primary schools in the country.”

“The Presidency has made adequate arrangements for the HGSF to happen and by the grace of God, we are going forward to do exactly that.”

“But what is interesting is the fact that some states have actually gone ahead to start the school feeding programme on their own, while some others are also making such a plan.”

“In that case, more primary school pupils would be fed in the final analysis.”

Akande further said that if a state cannot fund the school feeding for Primary 4 to 6 students, the Federal government will nonetheless feed pupils from Primary 1 to 3.

He noted that 5.5 million children will be fed for 200 school days in the first phase of the feeding programme this year, saying that the number will raise up to 20 million before President Buhari’s tenure runs out.

However, only students from 18 states (ie three states in each geopolitical zone) would be fed for the aforementioned 200 days.