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Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Stakeholders from the nine states of the Niger Delta have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to replace the five-man probe panel into the alleged fraud in the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) with a substantive coordinator.
The stakeholders, made up of groups under the aegis of the Niger Delta Restoration Alliance (NDRA), urged President Buhari to match the promises made during the June 12 national broadcast on the sustenance of the existing peace and stability in the region with the appointment of a substantive coordinator to improve and fulfil the dream of the administration in the region.
NDRA spokesman, Biewari Apulu, in a statement, said the delayed appointment of a coordinator for PAP is noticeably evident in the tension and restlessness in the region.
According to the group, the appointment of a substantive coordinator will ensure the immediate commencement of the delayed vocational training for real beneficiaries of PAP in preparation for emerging job opportunities.
Apulu, who commended President Buhari on the amnesty programme, which he said has successfully maintained the peace and stability in the Niger Delta, advocated its continuity to guarantee peace in the region.
“President Buhari should replace the five-man investigative committee, set up by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Mohammed Monguno, with the appointment of a substantive coordinator of PAP.
“The substantive coordinator will immediately commence the empowerment programmes for real beneficiaries to become self-employed entrepreneurs and save many beneficiaries from the looming recession, occasioned by the ongoing COVID-19 and drop in crude oil price.
“We are aware that the Nigeria’s annual budget is over N10 trillion and its total debts is over $80 billion and Nigeria is relying on the peace and stability in the Niger Delta to increase crude oil and gas production to pay back these huge debts and continue to service its annual budgets and to develop other regions across the country.
