The Federal Government has suspended its earlier plan to wind down the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, by the end of this year.
The development was said to be a result of concerted efforts by the new Interim Administrator of PAP, Maj. Gen. Barry Ndiomu ,retd, on assumption of office.
He had set out to recalibrate the programme into a more effective and efficient agency.
A statement by his media consultant, Donu Kogbara, expressed gratitude to federal government for listening when he said critical stakeholders across the region were strongly opposed to the winding down of PAP.
Ndiomu commended President Muhammadu Buhari for giving listening ears to the people of Niger Delta, adding that the decision demonstrates the sensitivity of the President Buhari-led administration to issues affecting Niger Delta people.
He said President Buhari is more interested in taking further proactive steps to re-engineer the programme in such a way that would benefit the people of the region, with particular reference to the ex-agitators whose sacrifices birthed the amnesty programme in 2009.
The Interim Administrator also commended stakeholders in the region for being supportive since his assumption of office, pointing out that the various views expressed during his consultative meetings across the region were very useful.
According to him, “the Presidential Amnesty Programme will be re-engineered towards ensuring that its original mandate is fully realised, culminating in a gradual phased winding down of the Programme in future
“The federal government has heard the concerns of Niger Delta people and, with our best interests at heart, has decided to shelve an unwanted termination agenda and transform PAP into a more sanitized, transparent, efficient, robust and sustainable entity.
“Following wide consultations with ex-agitators across the Niger Delta and the subsequent feedback to the federal government, the administration of President Buhari has been magnanimous in shelving the idea of winding down the Programme. Rather, the President is determined to ensure that the Amnesty programme is re-engineered to achieve its original mandate,” Gen. Ndiomu stated.
“The decision was taken after the feelings of stakeholders and people of the region were communicated to the government and proves that the Buhari’s administration will not do anything to jeopardize the peace in the Niger Delta. The government weighed the arguments presented, based on their merits, and decided to suspend the planned shutdown.
“We call on all stakeholders to sustain the peace in the region and help the new administration to reform, refocus and reposition the programme for optimum performance.”
Sunday Vanguard recalls that following the militancy in the Niger Delta region, the administration of the late President Umar Yar’Adua had established PAP in 2009.
Apart from granting amnesty to ex-agitators, who had surrendered their weapons, government approved overseas scholarships and payment of monthly stipends among others for the former agitators.
The programme was adjudged a success for restoring oil production to pre-amnesty level and reducing the scale of insecurity in the region.
However, a few months ago, government said it had concluded a plan to wind down the progamme in December this year.
The announcement led to calls from stakeholders, who warned that the plan may likely lead to fresh unrest in the region.
Protest
Meanwhile, some ex-militants have given PAP two weeks to publish the names of 1,714 beneficiaries of scholarships that have been allegedly delisted.
They threatened to embark on protests in all states in the region if PAP failed to obey the ultimatum.
The ex-agitators also accused some officials of the Amnesty Programme, who worked with the former administration of shoddy deals that culminated in the illegal insertion of names of people that were not beneficiaries of the scholarship award.
Briefing newsmen, President of Ijaw Defenders Mandate, IDM, Comrade John Gbozimor, said the ultimatum was a fallout of the controversies trailing the 1, 714 local and foreign scholarships allegedly awarded by the immediate past Interim Administrator.
He insisted that PAP must publish the names of the 1, 714 beneficiaries in the 2021/2022 PAP scholarship in national dailies to ascertain how many ex-agitators made the list.
The group also called on Ndiomu to immediately set up an audit panel to investigate the process that culminated in the award of 1, 714 scholarships to determine the exact number of beneficiaries.
