…This gives us enough time to work, Barry Ndiomu
By Obed Daniel EDOR
The federal government announced over the weekend that The Presidential Amnesty Programme for repentant ex-Niger Delta militants will not be winding down in December this year as previously said.
In a swift response, Major General Barry Ndiomu (rtd), the new Interim Administrator of the Programme said “This is very good news. The Niger Delta Region will certainly benefit from this extension”. General Ndiomu spoke in an interview with The Abuja Inquirer in his office in Abuja. He added: “This will give us enough time to work for the good of the region”
The Abuja Inquirer gathered that the Federal Government’s decision was due to the untiring efforts made by the new Amnesty Boss on how best to recalibrate the programme into a more effective and efficient agency.
Over the weekend, Gen. Ndiomu, in a statement, issued by his media consultant, Donu Kogbara, expressed gratitude towards the federal government for listening when he made it clear that critical stakeholders across the region were strongly opposed to the winding down of the Amnesty Programme. He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his sensitivity towards the region, and listening to its people.
The statement went further to say that President Buhari was more interested in taking further Proactive steps to re-engineer the Programme in such a way that would benefit the people of the region, with particular reference to the ex-agitators whose sacrifices birthed the amnesty programme in 2009.
According to the statement, “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 sanitized, transparent, efficient, robust and sustainable entity.
“Following wide consultations with the ex-agitators across the Niger Delta and the subsequent feedback to the federal government, the administration of President Buhari has been magnanimous in shelving the idea of winding down the Programme. Rather, the President is determined to ensure that the Amnesty programme is re-engineered to achieve its original mandate,
“The decision was taken after the feelings of stakeholders and people of the region were communicated to the government and proves that the Buhari’s administration will not do anything to jeopardize the peace in the Niger Delta. The government weighed the arguments presented, based on their merits, and decided to suspend the planned shutdown.
“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”.
General Ndiomu (rtd) also thanked the critical stakeholders in the region for being so supportive since his assumption of office, pointing out that the various views and advice from stakeholders during his consultative meetings across the region were very useful.
He added: “The Presidential Amnesty Programme will be re-engineered towards ensuring that its original mandate is fully realised, culminating in a gradual, phased winding down of the Programme (eventually)”.
