Former Niger Delta ex-militant leaders have accused the Ministry of Finance of starving the office of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) of funds.
Rising from their meeting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at the weekend, the ex-freedom fighters said withholding funds for PAP was against the peace-building efforts of the Federal Government in Niger Delta region.
The former creek warriors under the aegis of Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI) in a statement asked the finance ministry to immediately release PAP’s budgetary allocations to calm frayed nerves in the region.
The President, LPCDI, Chief Reuben Wilson, said releasing the budget promptly would help the amnesty office to efficiently manage the programme to ensure lasting peace in the region.
Wilson commended the ongoing tour of the region by the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo but warned that the modest achievements of the Presidency could be eroded by starving the amnesty office of funds.
He further welcomed President Muhammdu Buhari back home after his well-deserved vacation and appealed to the Presidency to prevail on the finance ministry to treat the PAP with seriousness.
Wilson said: “The delay in payments of stipends of beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty programme will greatly negate the current efforts of the Federal Government in enthroning peace in the region. The Presidential Amnesty Programme is a great contributor to the current peace prevailing in the region.
“The group is greatly concerned about the current state of lack of funds in the amnesty office to carry out its programmes which are designed to permanently eradicate restiveness in the Niger Delta region for the betterment of the entire country.
“As stakeholders who truly want the accelerated development of the Niger Delta, the delay could slow the ongoing peace process and we wouldn’t want such to happen.
“Anyone, or group of persons that do not consider the importance of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in the peace building process of the region is an enemy of the Nation.
“Such person, or group of persons do not also mean well for the administration of President Mohammadu Buhari, as the economic prosperity and development of the Nation still, largely, depends on the peace in the Niger Delta.
“We are also deeply concerned over the poor funding of the Niger Delta scholarship students in the UK under the Federal Government amnesty programme.
“The students from various universities in their final academic year have been stopped from academic services and are also being evacuated from their accommodation due to non-payment of their tuition fees and in-training allowances which have piled up to five months”.
He said it would be a bad omen if the authorities sent the students back to Nigeria without completing their programmes.
Wilson called on Nigerians and stalwarts of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to tell the ministry the importance of funding the PAP.
Wilson added: “We are working tirelessly across the Niger Delta to enthrone peace so that the present administration will be able to achieve its policies and programmes for the betterment of Nigeria.
“We are calling on all youths and stakeholders of the Niger Delta to give peace a chance because the development of the region can only happen in an environment of peace and tranquility.
“We recognise the efforts of the Minister of Finance in the management of the economy, especially for the recent successes recorded in the foreign exchange sector where the Naira is redeeming its image as against other foreign currencies.
“But we are also asking the Minister to use the same vigor and wisdom to facilitate the prompt release of funds meant for the amnesty office and treat same as priority to concretize the existing peaceful environment in the Niger Delta that has led to the increase in daily output in the petroleum industry”.
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