Group Faults Allegation Against President Amnesty Programme

A group under the third phase of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has countered the accusation by an organisation known as Ijaw Youths Liberation (IYL) against the running of the PAP.

National chairman of the group, Gen. Elaye Slabor, in a statement in Abuja, insisted on setting the record straight, alleging that the IYL is not captured or known in the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) therefore it has no authority to speak on the subject which it know nothing about.

He said the Presidential Amnesty Programme Cooperative Scheme is strictly for the beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme and that those who participated in the scheme have been duly remunerated. He said as at the last count, the least of beneficiaries received a minimum of N1million while others got up to N5million.

On the strength of this, Slabor faulted the misleading story by the IYL and challenged the Ijaw Youth Liberation group to reach out to participants of the scheme to confirm by themselves.

He said the likes of Ebiakpo Godswill and his co-travellers are specialists in disseminating false information and that they should never be taken seriously.

On the issue of contractors not being paid, he said contractors who are yet to be captured cannot be paid unless they have been properly verified and captured to avoid lack of job delivery or sub-standard jobs. He insisted that contractors who have been captured are paid as at when due, saying the claim that only cronies received payments is not true.

He said the entire executive of the Third Phase of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) led by himself is in total solidarity and support of the interim administration of Gen. Barry Ndiomu (rtd). He demanded outright apology from the group who he accused of working to engender friction between the interim coordinator of the Amnesty Programme and the presidency.

“For the avoidance of doubt, here are some salient achievements of Maj. Gen. Barry Ndiomu (Rtd). The cooperative scheme is ongoing smoothly and thousands have benefitted. Over a hundred persons have benefited from the aviation trainings both at home and abroad. The current scholarship programme ongoing is targeted to benefit another great number of people. The vocational training programme which will soon roll out will have a sweeping effect across the region.

“We sincerely call on Mr. President, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Security Advisor (NSA) Mr. Nuhu Ribadu and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr. Kayode Egbetokun to be mindful of people spreading fake news in order to discredit well-meaning Nigerians who are adding value to this present administration,” he said.