Ex- Niger Delta agitators demand removal of Presidential Amnesty Programme from NSA’s supervision

A group of ex-Niger Delta agitators under the aegis of the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), are demanding that the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) be stripped from the office and supervision of the National Security Adviser (NSA).

This was contained in a statement issued by spokesperson of the Joint Revolutionary Council, Cynthia Whyte, and made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt.

The statement reads, “We received with absolute disgust the news on the suspension of Prof Charles Quaker Dokubo as coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

“We believe that this is a phony attempt at window dressing the core issues and a poor attempt at surface dressing the many problems facing the Presidential Amnesty Programme today.

“It is impossible to have that scale of fraud, embezzlement, mismanagement and general malfeasance at the Presidential Amnesty Programme without active and coordinated connivance of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

“The fact that two coordinators of the Presidential Amnesty Programme have been sacked for fraud within a space of two years (March, 2018 and March, 2020), shows that something is fundamentally wrong with the current architecture and supervisory framework of the Presidential Amnesty Programme”, the group noted.

The group said any probe launched on the PAP must be done directly by President Muhammadu Buhari and not through the office of the NSA, insisting that nothing will change the amnesty programme if this issue was not addressed.

“Whatever investigation must be carried out on the Presidential Amnesty Programme must be done directly by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not through the Office of the National Security Adviser who is also an adviser to the President just as the coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme doubles as Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, which is a cabinet ranking position.

“We maintain, as we have continued to do in recent times that the Presidential Amnesty Programme should be removed from the supervision of the Office of the National Security Adviser and domiciled directly under the Presidency.

“As coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and a cabinet ranking member of the government, we believe that the coordinator should report directly to the President, even if it be through the Chief of Staff to the President. Nothing will change with the Amnesty Programme if this matter is not urgently addressed. Enough is enough!”, the group added.