There is substantial anxiety in the Niger Delta region over the decision of the Federal Government to shut the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP). PAP was introduced in 2009 as part of the conditions agreed upon between the Federal Government and ex-militants who laid down their arms to embrace the amnesty offered by the late President Umaru Musa YarAdua. In reaction to the above development a group, Niger Delta Volunteers for Good Governance (NDVFGG) has condemned the planned winding up of the PAP by the federal government, saying it’s untimely hence the government should rather re-strategise with a view to accomplishing the spirit of the initiators of the programme considering the achievements reached so far.
The group, in a statement signed by its national president, Ben Bowei a.k.a Lord Mayor 1 of Niger Delta and coordinators from Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Ondo states, frowned at the neglect of Edo and Delta states in the appointment of coordinator for the programme and other principal officers since its inception.
The group alleged that outside denials of the states in the appointment of principal officers, applicants from the two states for vocational trainings and scholarship had been several times rejected.
“The Niger Delta Volunteers for Good Governance (NDVFGG) has observed that there has been a deliberate neglect of qualified indigenes of Edo and Delta states in the area of appointment as coordinator and/or other principal staffs in the Presidential Amnesty Program office from inception till date.
“It is our collective resolution that the above listed States have been totally neglected by the Federal Government in the scheme of things especially in the area of appointment in the PAP office since the disarmament in 2009.
“It is also a truism that the above states have also suffered similar fates in the area of reintegration and empowerment contrary to spirit and letters of the Presidential Amnesty Programme as constituted by the late President Musa Yar’Adua in 2009.
“The marginalisation of these states has left a distasteful taste in the mouths of the ex-agitators and impacted communities because delegates who applied for vocational training in the program are often rejected and the same position applies to those who applied for scholarship to acquire Higher Education at the tertiary level.
“As a matter of fact, such persons are extorted and not given equal opportunities and a level playing field by the office representing the government.
“For this, the Niger Delta Volunteers for Good Governance is collaborating with sister organizations in setting out modalities to ensure there is equity, fairness, transparency and justice in the composition of the new board and distribution of positions to reflect effective and equal participation in the office; otherwise it will call for a total lock down of economic activities within the Niger Delta region which may also lead to breach of public peace to press home our demands,” the group said.