The Federal government on Friday revealed that the Presidential Amnesty Program is currently owing its contractors over N712b spent on unverifiable projects
Milland Dokio, the Project Coordinator, while speaking after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, said the Programme meant to deliver sustainable peace and human development, wasted the resources allocated by the Federal government
“The lessons we are learning points to a systemic problem with the programme structure that permits abuse of trust and processes.
Dokio while noting that the program as conceived by form to President Umaru Yar’adua was to last for only a few years suffered from endemic corruption
” It was to disarm in a period of 3 months, demobilise and reintegrate the ex-militants into civil
society within the remaining 2 years and 9 months” he said, however, immediately after the
disarmament phase, challenges including endemic corruption cropped in and derailed the programme.
He disclosed that President Buhari increased its allocation from Thirty-five billion to sixty-five billion naira to ensure that the ex-agitators were properly trained and reintegrated into the civil society.
“Regrettably, the Programme has now been running for 11 years without the desired benefits delivered to the ex-agitators.
“Rather, the ex-agitator database was dishonestly corrupted, and several contracts were awarded in total disregard of need and procurement processes.
“Consequently, the programme is currently owing contractors the sum ofN71,411,646,210.68.”
Dokio said this informed the President’s decision to overhaul the Programme aimed at ensuring that the dividends of the Amnesty Programme reach its original target beneficiaries.
Federal Government, the vision was to refocus the Amnesty Programme to its original mandate of development and security of the Niger Delta Region, this informed the key elements of the vision which includes the restoration of the mandate of the Amnesty Programme to its original intent and take service to the Niger Delta where the ex-agitators are domiciled.
It was also to train the ex-agitators to become entrepreneurs who will act as agents of change to reverse the narrative of a people dependent on hand-outs but to self-actualized employers of labor and net contributors to the economic prosperity of the Niger Delta.
Others include to coordinate and cooperate with relevant agencies set up by the Federal government agencies to compliment the efforts of the Amnesty Programme to ensure the development and security of the Niger Delta in line with the broader amnesty Package.
“Ultimately, it is our firm belief that working with the various governments in the region we can make the Niger Delta the most secure place to live and do business in Nigeria.
The National Security Adviser, Babagana Mongonu said the programme which was supposed to be a very serious programme rooted in the fact that the people of the Niger Delta had been suffering adversely as a consequence of so many issues, ecological, security, and too many things.
“Baring in mind the burden the region has been carrying in terms of the natural resources there. So the principal idea for setting up this programme was actually to look at issues of development and security.
According to him, ” a lot of things happen to catapult the whole programme into other issues that originally were not intended.
“The predatory instincts of certain individuals came into the fore and the programme was turned upside down and as a result of this like, the administrator has just said, there was a lot of corruption, waste, the mismanagement within this period, N712 billion was wasted basically unaccounted for and this is due to so many issues, including corruption
