The Mayor of Urhoboland, Eshanakpe Israel a.k.a Akpodoro has in furtherance to his call on the Federal Government to remove the Interim administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, (PAP), he has also called for account of stewardship, saying he is just a concerned patriot.
He stated this, Wednesday, in response to a letter reacting to what he described as his innocent and patriotic call to the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government to immediately sack and replace the PAP boss.
Reacting to his call, the PAP office had in a February 14, 2024-dated letter invited him to the office at the heels of an online publication, accusing Akpodoro of playing the ethnic card.
Akpodoro said it was unfortunate that they couldn’t draw a genuine line between tribal sentiment and patriotism to a call that was made in the best regional interest.
He said he is undaunted by the mischievous publication, stressing that rather than attacking him, the PAP administrator should come out clean and render account of his stewardship to the people he claims to serve.
The Wednesday letter that was written and signed by one Major Akpor who is said to be the CSO to the embattled PAP boss, the Mayor said would not be honoured due to what he called gross insubordination, arguing that such letter ought to have been written by an administration officer is truly the Amnesty office have any iota of respect for the office of the Mayor of Urhoboland.
The Mayor who doubles as the President of the National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, NCNDE-A said they should all go back to the act establishing the intervention agency, stating that operators of the political system in the past appointments have planted the seed of erroneous entitlement in some people, making them grow in the mischievous belief that the programme was the birthright of a particular nation.
Maintaining that the programme was established for the benefit of all ethnic nationalities in the Delta region, Akpodoro said such misinterpretation of the good intention of the founders of the programme shouldn’t be ordinarily misconstrued for pecuniary reasons as he described some hired hands whose loyalty is based mainly on the crumbs from the master’s table, saying Nigeria is bigger than any person or group.
“We know them to be good at issuing empty threats to the government, but we are of the opinion that the next Amnesty boss must come from another ethnic group. Let’s try new hands in the appointment to the leadership of PAP. This call is a clarion call to the Federal Government and not to any particular individual,” he said.
He further stated that in as much as the government is still interested in achieving the aims and objectives of the founding fathers of that regional agency, it is trite to appoint an urhobo man to the position, owing to their administrative prowess and honesty in handling national issues.
“I maintain my call for a change of baton in the Amnesty office. I have no regret making a legitimate call, and it is the honest truth.
Nobody can intimidate anybody, and no one is more Niger Deltan than others.
“I stand by my call for the sack and thorough probe of the Amnesty Programme,” he said.