Govt, Niger Delta Leaders To End Amnesty Programme Soon

Stakeholders in the Niger Delta say the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) would end after the integration of all the beneficiaries of the scheme.

Stakeholders made this known after traditional rulers, political leaders and past and present officers of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide met with the Administrator of PAP, Col. Milland Dixion Dikio (retd), in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

A few members of the leaders urged the Federal Government to ensure that the programme was given the necessary financial support to execute its reintegration phase, adding that the Federal Government should achieve all conceptualised benefits for PAP before winding it up.

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These stakeholders expressed their gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Dikio as the interim administrator and expressed optimism that with him, PAP would realise its objectives.

The leaders also called on Dikio to clean the Augean stable in the amnesty office by identifying and firing the people that had used the PAP to feed their greed and perpetrate fraud.

Elder statesman and nationalist, Chief Edwin Clark, urged the Federal Government not to rush to end the amnesty programme.

“I and other elders from the Niger Delta will continue to work with you to ensure your tenure succeeds.

“I want to urge all to continue to do all that is possible for us to keep the peace as we continue to fight for justice, equity and fairness in Nigeria.

“I equally urge everybody that is gathered here that through you and all our other brothers in the region to give our son, our brother the cooperation for him to succeed,” Clark said while addressing Dikio.

Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri, represented by his Commissioner for Ijaw Affairs, Patrick Erasmus, said the government would provide accommodation for the programme.

While speaking, Dikio said he convened the summit to interact with the custodians of the region.

He said the meeting allowed him to understand some of the plights of the people and promised to quarterly hold similar engagements in the region.