By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa
The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) worldwide at the weekend commended President Muhammadu Buhari for commencing a financial probe of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
Describing the move as a welcome development, IYC President, Eric Omare, in a statement lamented that the aim of the programme had been defeated by the selfish interests of a few politicians.
Omare said the recent managers of the scheme deviated from its original objectives of training and reintegrating ex-agitators.
He, however, opposed the appointment of a caretaker committee for the scheme describing it as unnecessary.
He said the position of the IYC had been that to reposition the Amnesty office, the Presidency should return the programme to its oruginal owners to implement its master plan.
He insisted that the amnesty programme was not an all-comers programme but was created for only ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region with a clear cut objectives.
He said: “The IYC welcome the decision by President Buhari to carry out a probe into the financial activities of the Presidential Amnesty Office in order to bring probity and accountability into the programme. In the view of the IYC, this move was long overdue, however it is most welcome decision to bring sanity into the Amnesty office.
“The Presidential Amnesty programme was initiated by the government of Late President Yar’Adua to rehabilitate and reintegrate former Niger Delta Agitators who voluntarily dropped their arms into the society.
“However, the programme in recent times has been hijacked by a few people to service their personal interest at the expense of the targeted beneficiaries of the programme. The managers of the Amnesty office in recent times have also deviated from it’s original objective of training and reintegration of ex-agitators to using the programme to financially empower only their close associates.
“This has resulted in unrest and dissatisfaction among the beneficiaries of the programme which has led to protests and blockade of major roads in the Niger Delta region in recent times. In summary, the amnesty programme has lost its focus and founding ideas.
“It is in this light that we welcome the decision to bring sanity into the affairs of the Amnesty office by the Presidency. However, we oppose the idea of appointing a caretaker committee for the Amnesty office as it was done for the NDDC.
Read Also: Akpabio chairs NDDC monitoring panel
“We do not see the reason for appointing a caretaker committee for the Amnesty office. The position of the IYC is that in order to repositioned the Amnesty office, the Presidency should return the programme to its owners (beneficiaries) in order to implement its original master plan.
“The amnesty programme is not an all comers programme but was created for only Ex-Agitators in the Niger Delta region with a clear cut objectives.
“Therefore, the Presidency should search inward for those with good understanding of the programme to constitute the Amnesty office Management committee in its re-organization efforts. We will resist efforts to continue to use the Amnesty office as political patronage agency as it has recently become.”
Leave a Reply