5th November, 2022
By Nathan Nwakamma
The Federal Government has rescinded its plans to terminate the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), th Interim Administrator of the programme, Gen. Barry Ndiomu said in a statement on Saturday.
Ndiomu, in the statement issued by PAP’s Media Consultant, Donu Kogbara, said Federal Government agreed to the suspension when he made it clear that critical stakeholders across the region were strongly opposed to the winding down of the PAP.
However, Ndiomu said all responsible stakeholders, nevertheless, supported change and shared his view that the programme needed to be totally refocused and restructured.
Ndiomu said the government weighed the arguments presented to them, based on their merits, and decided to suspend the planned shutdown.
Ndiomu said the Federal Government’s willingness to retrace its steps demonstrated the sensitivity of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to issues affecting the Niger Delta.
“The Federal Government has heard the concerns of Niger Delta people and, with our best interests at heart, has decided to shelve an unwanted termination agenda and transform PAP into a more sanitised, transparent, efficient, robust and sustainable entity.
“The decision was taken after the feelings of stakeholders and people of the region were communicated to the government and proved that the Buhari’s administration would not do anything to jeopardise the peace in the Niger Delta.
“We call on all stakeholders to sustain the peace in the region and help the new administration to reform, refocus and reposition the programme for optimum performance,” the statement said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
NN/IA