Alleged Return Of N26bn Unspent PAP Fund Angers Ex-Militants

Following the alleged return of a whooping sum of N26billion unspent fund meant to offset backlog of monies owed contractors from 2014 to date by the Interim Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dikio (rtd), ex-militants in the Niger Delta region have called for the immediate sack of the Interim Coordinator and the National Security Adviser to the President, Gen. Mohammed Babagana Monguno (rtd).
Speaking with newsmen in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, the leader of the third phase ex-agitators, ‘General’ Ebi John fumed that the reported return of N26billion unspent Amnesty fund to the coffers of the Federal Government without paying contractors in the programme may spell doom.
He said, “Late last year, President Muhammadu Buhari listened to our agitations and released billions of naira to the Presidential Amnesty Office to offset debts the office is owing vendors/contractors, but the Interim Coordinator, who refused to pay the contractors, rather, returned N26billion as unspent fund to the Federal Government.
“On December 31, by 12am, the portal used for payment closed, and every kobo was returned back to the Federal Ministry of Finance without paying the contractors.
“The Interim Coordinator has started failing. Take, for instance, the Presidential Amnesty Office does not train or empower delegates directly. But do so through the services of vendors/contractors. Now, most of these vendors/contractors borrowed money from the banks to execute their jobs because the amnesty office had stopped mobilization of any kind to vendors/contractors.
“I can remember vividly that on the December 17, in Arogbo in Ondo State, when the Amnesty boss met with critical stakeholders drawn from 1st, 2nd, 3rd phases, and in the presence of General Boyloaf, High Chief Shoot-At-Sight, former IYC President, Comrade Chris Ekiyor and others, he said that payment of debts owned these vendors/contractors has started with payment from 2014 jobs.
“As I speak to you, 90 per cent of the vendors/contractors were not paid. The disadvantage of return of N26billion unspent Amnesty fund to the Federal Government is that thousands of ex-agitators who were waiting for their vendors to call them for training and empowerment in January, 2021, are now stranded at home.
“The last part of the Amnesty Programme is training and empowerment of ex-agitators but it is not working. As ex-militants, we will not allow what is happening to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to happen to the Amnesty Programme.”