Former agitators in the Niger Delta region, have warned the National Assembly, especially the Senate, to withdraw its threat of arrest warrant against the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Colonel Milland Dikkio (Rtd).
This is as they reminded the National Assembly that the PAP was not an automated teller machine (ATM) for politicians from the Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large.
Recall that the chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Matthew Urhogbide, had last Sunday threatened that Dikkio risked being arrested following his alleged failure to appear before the Senate Committee.
But, the ex-agitators, under the auspices of the the Western flank of the now defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP, warned politicians to stay away from the PAP office, unless their involvements are in tandem with the mandate of the peace of the Niger Delta region.
The statement, which was signed by the spokesman of the Western zonal spokesman, Captain Loveday Angokuro, alleged that Senator Urhogbide and some of his colleagues were on personal mission of vendetta following their alleged failure to extract favours from the Amnesty Office.
The statement reads in part: “The so-called threat by the Senator, to the best of our knowledge, is a personal and ego mission. He and his co travelers are on a personal vendatta which is the result of a failed attempt to extract highly unreasonable favours from the Amnesty Office.
“To the best of our knowledge, the current Interim Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dikkio has successfully piloted the affairs of the office since he assumed leadership of the PAP.
“Colonel Dikkio has changed the narrative to the best of his ability while not compromising standards. Therefore, the allegation by the Senator that the Interim Administrator shunned the Senate Committee on Public Accounts is not correct.
“From our findings, the said Senator made series of private attempts to see the Interim Administrator with a view to having some assistance as party primaries were being awaited. However, the attempts were rebuffed because Col. Dikio saw no wisdom in dishing out cash to politicians through the Amnesty Office.
“The same effects were heightened soon after the primary elections but the response of the Interim Administrator was not different even after several interventions through respected individuals who sought some positive support for Senator Urhogbide.
“We therefore urge Senator Urhogbide to act with caution and not visit his failure at the last Senatorial primary in Edo State on the Amnesty coordinator. The Presidential Amnesty Programme is not an ATM for politicians to replenish their pockets after failing to achieve their desires.”
