We’ll Tackle Lingering Inhibitions, Amnesty Office Declares

As part of efforts to douse the tension and questions arising from uncertainty of the status of student delegates on the payment of their scholarships and allowances, the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) office has announced that the scholarship remains in place, as it has not announced outright cancellation of the scheme.

Reacting to speculations that it has cancelled its students’ scholarship scheme, PAP in a statement by the special assistant, Media, to the interim administrator, Mr Freston Akpore, said it only restated an earlier information in which it announced temporary suspension of the scheme due to the huge debt profile. 

Akpore explained that the scholarship award carried out by previous leaderships of the agency were done without necessary budgetary consideration and planning, which has had attendant effects on the agency’s financial management.

He added that it would therefore defy any logical reasoning on the part of the PAP office to commence award of fresh scholarships without adequately restructuring its current debts and effectively planning available resources vis-a-vis intended new programmes.

Akpor said, “the leadership of PAP appreciates the place of education in the development of the Niger Delta and would do all to ensure the creation of opportunities for formal education for beneficiaries in the region.

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“For the avoidance of doubt, PAP had not at any time announced the cancellation of the scholarship scheme to eligible beneficiaries.

“An official statement issued by the PAP on 06/01/2023 clearly emphasised that the Presidential Amnesty Programme scholarship scheme has temporarily been placed on hold due to financial constraints occasioned by the huge debt profile associated with the formal education component of the programme.

“Evidently, the recent award of scholarships (not by the present management) were done without recourse to budgetary considerations and efficient financial planning thus having an adverse effect on the organisation’s balance sheet.

“The PAP under its current leadership recognises and acknowledges the importance of education to the growth and development of the Niger Delta and will therefore not relent in doing everything possible to ensure that formal education opportunities are made available to beneficiaries of the PAP.”