Former militant leader in the Niger Delta region, Chief Reuben Clifford Wilson, has called on the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to sack the interim administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (Rtd), over claims on the All Progressives Congress (APC) deputy governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Joshua Maciver.
Wilson, in a statement made available to journalists in Port Harcourt on Friday, said it was wrong for Ndiomu to allege that there was no evidence to show that Maciver is a beneficiary of the amnesty programme.
He stated that the APC deputy governorship candidate, is a genuine first phase beneficiary of the programme, who was among first set of former agitators that met with late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2009.
The statement reads in part: “I wish to use this medium to emphatically affirm that Mr Joshua Maciver is a genuine first phase beneficiary of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
“He was among the first set of ex-agitators who accepted the Presidential Amnesty Programme that met with late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua at the State House, Presidential Villa, Abuja in 2009.
“We were led by Mr Ebikabowei Victor-Ben (a.k.a.Gen.Boyloaf) in our meeting with the late President Yar’Adua, where all the ex-agitators in that meeting, including the Great Joshua Maciver, accepted the Presidential Amnesty Programme and thereafter, were duly enlisted in the programme as the first phase beneficiaries of the programme.
“The Great Joshua Maciver was in fact, the first Ex-Agitator in Bayelsa State that left the creeks to embrace peace and the Presidential Amnesty Programme. He is even ahead of me in hierarchy, with respect to the Niger Delta struggle that led to the proclamation of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
“Mr Joshua Maciver and his camp members have been receiving their monthly stipends from the Presidential Amnesty Office from the beginning of the Programme to date.
“His camp and himself have also been actively participating in all the programmes of the Presidential Amnesty Programme from beginning to date and there has never been any issue concerning their status as beneficiaries.
I am therefore, rudely shocked that the current interim administration of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Maj. Gen.Barry Ndiomu (Rtd) is claiming that there’s no evidence of Mr Joshua Maciver being a beneficiary of the Presidential Amnesty Programmme.
“This claim is worrisome and portends a great danger with respect to the safety and sanctity of the data of beneficiaries at the Presidential Amnesty Office.
“I am deeply worried by the claim of the Interim Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme because it’s becoming very obvious that some persons have tampered with the original documents of the Presidential Amnesty Office and are manipulating same to advance their selfish and political interests.
“The current Presidential Amnesty Coordinator seems to be working for the interest of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State and is therefore, doing everything to give undue advantage to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, slated for the 11th of November, 2023.
“This is owing to the fact that Mr Joshua Maciver is the Deputy Gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the above-stated election and some persons want a repetition of what happened to the All Progressives Congress in the 2019 Bayelsa Gubernatorial election so that they can hold on to power in the state through the back door.
“I am therefore, calling on the National Security Adviser to suspend the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme immediately from office and probe the circumstances surrounding his claims against Mr Joshua Maciver. The National Security Adviser should probe his claims and ensure that the truth prevails in this matter.
“The Presidential Amnesty Programme was the brainchild of His Excellency, Chief Timipre Sylva, the former Governor of Bayelsa State and the current Gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 11th November, 2023 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election.
“Chief Timipre Sylva initiated and designed the Presidential Amnesty Programme and presented it to late President Yar’Adua who saw the viability and the relevance of the programme and gave his approval.
“The Presidential Amnesty Programme was thereafter proclaimed and established by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration. Chief Sylva knows the details of all the first phase beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme because he was at the centre of the activities that led to the establishment of the programme.”
