We will not succumb to blackmail – PAP

Says BVN Govt policy against bank fraud must be upheld

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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has strongly condemned the blackmail and campaign of calumny against its Administrator, Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro, by some misguided elements from the Niger Delta.

The Office said the PAP under Dr Otuaro would not succumb to blackmail sponsored by fraudsters who do not mean well for the region.

The Office stressed that those writing against the decision to adhere to the government’s policy on the Bank Verification Number (BVN), which links all bank accounts belonging to individuals, needed to have a rethink.

The Office said that the funds approved for running the programme would be deployed efficiently in the pursuit of lasting peace and security in the Niger Delta.

The PAP urged the public to dismiss the false and misleading allegations being peddled by unscrupulous characters with the intention of maligning Dr Otuaro’s reputation and distracting him from the good job he is doing.

The PAP stressed that the Administrator’s accusers were unhappy about his prudent management of resources and the reforms he had initiated to sanitise the Office and rid it of all forms of fraudulent practices that had impeded the smooth execution of the programme’s mandate for the region.

“It has come to the attention of the Office that a group of people are making spurious allegations over the PAP leadership’s adherence to the policy on BVN. We strongly condemn these allegations.

“The PAP Office cannot be the exception in the execution of the government’s policy on BVN designed to eradicate corruption in society.

“Clearly, anybody using the tool of blackmail to arm-twist the Office to sideline BVN is either a criminal or a fraudster who should be under security watch. The Office has asked them to come for verification of their claims, but they will not.

“These serial blackmailers are purveyors of falsehood and hollow narratives; they are driven by sheer greed with the sole objective of denting Dr Otuaro’s image and distracting him from focusing on the task given to him by President Bola Tinubu.

“These misguided elements are angry with Dr Otuaro for prudent management of resources and for introducing reforms that have sanitised the PAP. It is a fact that the Administrator has plugged all the loopholes which they and their ilk had hitherto manipulated for their selfish interests.

“Many of them are angered by what is statutorily paid to them by the Office. The BVN policy is a policy of the Federal Government, not the PAP’s.

“Some want to be awarded bogus contracts, which the Office under Dr Otuaro is not inclined to do. These are the reasons for their persistent attacks against him.”

It added that the Administrator’s decision to take the programme to the people of the region was evident in the unprecedented 13,300 onshore and over 500 offshore scholarships he had awarded and the distribution of laptops to the beneficiaries.

“The PAP, under Dr Otuaro’s leadership, will not be stampeded into using funds meant for the educational and vocational empowerment of Niger Delta youths to satisfy the large appetites of serial blackmailers and their sponsors.”