Presidential Amnesty Programme

The new Interim Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (Rtd), has resumed duty at the Amnesty office, Abuja.

The United States Department of Justice has alleged that billions of naira stolen from the Presidential Amnesty Programme by a former head of the office, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, were transferred to bank accounts in the United States where they were laundered and used to purchase airplanes to start Air Peace as well as luxury homes and vehicles.

A new report by Nextier Security, Peace and Development (SPD) has described the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) as too expensive to maintain and marred by corruption and patrimonial sentiment.

Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege (APC-Delta), has called on the Federal Government to shelve alleged plans to scrap the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), for ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region.

Coalition of Riverine Deltans, CoRN, a Niger-Delta group, weekend, complained that the Federal Government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, has abandoned development projects initiated by former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to provide employment and develop the core Niger-Delta area.

Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has urged the Federal Government to tread with caution when dealing with issues concerning the Niger Delta region.

The Senate has raised the alarm over the N1.121 billion spent by Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, on Public Communication.

The Niger Delta Ijaw Leaders Forum (NDLF), led by Com­rade Fedeke Ebipade, has assured President Muham­madu Buhari and multi-na­tional oil companies operat­ing in Gbaramatu Kingdom and the Niger Delta region of safe and secure operations.

Ex-Militant leaders across the nine states of the Niger Delta region have appealed to the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to pay contractors who completed their work, saying they are currently in trouble with banks threatening to seize their properties over loans they collected to service various contracts they were awarded.

Community leaders in the Niger Delta have warned against a plot to blackmail and discredit the National Security Adviser, General Babagana Monguno, retd, as various interest groups jostle for the position of coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme.

President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Abuja said law enforcement agencies have recovered over N3.7 billion as well as various assets worth billions of Naira from contractors and former directors of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Thousands of commutters plying the East-West road have been stranded for hours at the Mbiama-Yenagoa junction, since the early hours of today Monday, March 9,2020, as hundreds of ex-militants from Bayelsa and some parts of Delta State disrupted traffic with barricades chanting war songs. =

Niger Delta youth leaders have warned the National Security Adviser (NSA) Major General Mohammed Babagana Monguno (rtd) on the implications of hijacking the management of the Presidential Amnesty Office on the peace and stability in the region.

The Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Professor Charles Quaker Dokubo has been removed from the top job “with immediate effect” by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Senator representing Plateau North in the National Assembly, Istifanus Gyang, has condemned the bill seeking to create an agency for repentant Boko Haram terrorists, describing it as an insult to Nigerians.

The leader of the Phase 2 Amnesty Programme, Comrade Steven Ebisintei, has refuted a publication where he was quoted to have alleged fraud against Ali Bozi Tamaratare, Richard Turner and some members of the legal department of Presidential Amnesty Program Office.

The leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has criticised the exclusion of Niger Delta region from the infrastructural projects to be built with the $308 million loot of a former military leader, General Sanni Abacha.

Former militant leaders from nine states in the Niger Delta area have blamed some state governors in the region for frequent agitations by the youths in the region. =