Fresh crisis looms in Niger Delta over diversion of Amnesty Programme funds

Fresh crisis may be looming in the Niger delta over allegations of diversion of funds for the federal government’s  interventionist policy on Amnesty Programme in the region.

One of the beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in the Niger Delta, Victor Okame, has raised alarm over the recklessness of the current administrator of the programme under the All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Victor Okame in a statement raised the alarm: “the recklessness by public office holders under the Buhari led federal government has become a cause for concern. The Amnesty Programme which was meant to run for four years has become a conduit pipe for enemies of the Niger Delta Region; and unless issues of underperformance are addressed, the Amnesty Programme will just be a wasted effort.”

Victor Okame protested: “12 years after the inception of this programme, more than 20,000 of us are still not empowered. Many of us have been trained and left to rot. It is amazing how difficult it seems to reintegrate 30,000 individuals. The disregard for objectives and laid down guidelines is the root cause of this problem. No one can explain how close to N300,000,000 will be spent on a tour of the Niger Delta region by the Interim Administrator, money that will comfortably setup over a hundred Amnesty Beneficiaries.”

He further declared: “It is also confusing to know that contractors who were engaged to train and empower most of us, have not been paid. No contractor has been paid in 2020. This has not only kept the beneficiaries stagnant, but also frustrated vendors who have invested in executing their contracts, only to be left for years without payments. Some are dead while some are in the hospital due to heart related issues.

“The engagement of a new Interim Administrator was meant to bring a new approach to achieving the objectives of the Programme, but it turned out to be worse. Close to five months into his administration, which is almost half of his approved 1-year tenure, no beneficiary has been trained or empowered. All we hear are stories. But monies meant to empower us are used on irrelevant tours.

”The Amnesty Office isn’t the Niger Delta Ministry or the NDDC that needs to constantly interact with stakeholders of the region. The only interaction the Interim Administrator has to do; is with the beneficiaries. That is obviously not on the agenda of Col. Dikio.

“It is clear that most appointees of the President, don’t walk in line with the administration’s vision and mission. For example, the Interim Administrator is entitled to one Special Assistant; but to the detriment of the beneficiaries, Col Dikio has over five aides, with Neota Egbe, a Channels TV producer, as his SA Media.

“This same office has a Media Department with a civil service Director as its head. The waste going on, just five months into the tenure of Col. Dikio is alarming, and we fear for our future.

“It is time for the Federal Government to show the world how important the Amnesty Programme is to them. At the rate things are going, most of us might take legal/other actions to get justice.

“A word is enough for the wise.”