Some Niger Delta groups have criticised the Senate Public Account Committee for threatening to issue a bench warrant on officials of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), including its Interim Administrator, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (retd.).

The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) and ex-militant leaders warned the committee against making provocative statements capable of renewing hostilities in the region.

Abuja branch IYC Chairman Adam Marbo said the council was surprised at the committee’s claim that the warrant was to compel Dikio to appear before it to explain an alleged N10 billion unaccounted for by the Amnesty Office as contained in the Auditor General’s report of 2018.

Marbo said the council was further amazed that the report referred to by the committee was based on transactions that occurred in the 2015 fiscal year.

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The IYC chairman described the posture of the Senate committee as witch-hunt, adding that the transaction and the audit report happened years before Dikio was appointed the interim administrator of the programme.

He said: “We can recall that Dikio was appointed towards the end of 2020. What the Senate is investigating is a transaction that occurred in the Amnesty Office in 2015 but was mentioned in the Auditor General’s Report of 2018.

“The matter does not concern Dikio at all. Why would the Senate Committee become so fixated on Dikio that it descended to the arena of desperation with the threat of a bench warrant? What are they looking for? The committee cannot feign ignorance of persons at the helm of affairs in the Amnesty Office when the transaction took place.”

Marbo urged the committee to stop distracting Dikio and allow him to concentrate and deliver on his vision for PAP.

The IYC chairman insisted that the current Amnesty boss should only be held accountable for his actions and inactions during his tenure.