The leaders and beneficiaries under the Phase 1, 2 and 3 of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), on Friday called on President Bola Tinubu to remove the office of the Amnesty Programme from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The National Chairman of the PAP Phase 2, Ibena Rufus Salvation, made the call in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, during a sensitisation and orientation programme for Niger Delta Ex-agitators with the theme: “From Agitation to Aspiration: Harnessing Potential for Sustainable Growth in the Niger Delta”.
Ibena noted that the TSA system is not working for the Amnesty Office which he described as a security office, saying that monies are supposed to be released quarterly for proper operations by the Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro.
Accompanied by the Phase 1 national spokesperson, T. Y. Excel, Phase 1 leader, Lucky Iziri, Phase 2 leaders, Stephen Okiemo and Seaman David, Ibena also faulted the call by a group he termed faceless for demanding the sack of Otuaro as the PAP Administrator.
He called on the administrator not to be distracted from the good work he is doing at the Presidential Amnesty office.
According to him, the ex-agitators passed a vote of confidence on the PAP Administrator, for what he has been doing for the beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme, adding that no past administrator has done what Otuaro has done in the 14 years’ life of the programme.
He said, “We have gathered here, leaders and beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme to appreciate Mr. President and again appreciate Dennis Otuaro for what he has been doing. He came to the office and found out that so many complaints are there, from the beneficiaries and leaders. So, he looked into them critically and started solving them.
“I am a beneficiary. My camp and my followers have not been paid for over four years, meaning that it is not me alone but every other persons who had similar issues have been solved. Eighty percent of the problems have been solved and other leaders and beneficiaries have been paid,” he said.
