From Okwe Obi, Abuja
For a smooth operation of the ongoing Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged to release the N5.6 billion which was already approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The appeal was made by the National Spokesman of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Ebilade Ekerefe, in a statement yesterday.
Ekerefe said the call became an expedient sequel to the lofty achievements of PAP Interim Administrator, Barry Ndiomu, whom he said had transformed the scheme positively.
He warned those he referred to as “ghost stakeholders” and “Anti-Niger Delta elements and their faceless sponsors” behind the rising media attacks on the Presidential Amnesty Office and its boss” to stop the campaign of calumny and support the ongoing policies of the Amnesty Office under Ndiomu.
While it commended the Presidential Amnesty Office over the recently launched N1.5 billion Cooperative Fund in the Amnesty Programme Cooperative Society Limited (PAPCOSOL) for beneficiaries, he urged the Amnesty Office to sustain the initiative as it would strategically and directly empower ex-agitators in the Niger Delta.
He further explained that the launch of the scheme is a noble initiative that should be celebrated rather than being condemned by faceless groups who do not mean well for the region.
He urged President Bola Tinubu and Nigerians to disregard claims of misappropriation at the Presidential Amnesty Office and rather expedite action on the confirmation of Ndiomu as a substantive administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
Ekerefe assured the people of the Niger Delta region of their unwavering support for Ndiomu, stressing that since their assumption of office, he has embarked on laudable programmes aimed at uplifting the beneficiaries of the scheme.