Prominent elders and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, have clarified that at no time did they call for the sack of the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Maj-Gen, Barry Ndiomu (Rtd).
The elders at a news conference in Yenagoa, yesterday, said those behind the call are not members of the APC Elders Forum in the State, and do not exist in any form.
Speaking on behalf of the forum, a former member of the National Assembly, Senator John Kojo Brambaifa, said the non-existing group was sponsored to carry out the hatchet job because of the self-inflicting pain they are going through and decided to make Ndiomu their target while playing the victim.
“It has come to the knowledge of the members of APC in Bayelsa West Senatorial District that in the very recent past, precisely, about a fortnight ago, there is a self-seeking news item making rounds in the media, purportedly signed by amorphous APC Elders Forum in Bayelsa State, calling for the immediate sack of Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu as the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
“In the said news item circulating in several social media platforms, the said anonymous forum gave some nebulous reasons as the grounds for the call for the sack of the amnesty boss.
“We wish to state unequivocally and unambiguously that there was no time APC Elders Forum in Bayelsa State took a decision to call for the sack of the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, as they always form an integral part of the various fora that make up the party in the State,” Brambaifa said.
“The members of APC from Bayelsa West Senatorial District maintain that the present PAP helmsman has created far-reaching impacts in the programme and has contributed significantly to the improvement of the party in the State with the sound reform measures so far taken to reposition the programme that was gradually cascading to a moribund state.
“The APC members express shock over the show of ingratitude by such a pseudo platform, as they failed to appreciate the progressive ideas initiated and implemented by the Interim Administrator to revamp the interventionist agency”, the Forum said.
The Bayelsa APC Elders maintained that they are proud of the achievements of Ndiomu in only 10 months in office and will continue to support him to succeed.
They particularly commended his effort in introducing worthy and creative ideas like the Cooperative Scheme for ex-agitators, noting that it will produce the desired result for the benefit of all Niger Deltans.
According to them, “the establishment of a Cooperative Society will encourage hard work and deepen the rehabilitation and reintegration of the ex-agitators which is in consonance with the original intention of the programme.
“We therefore call on the APC led Federal Government and the general public to disregard the said malicious news item, as it was borne out of insatiable appetite and greed for personal gains and deliberate show of discontentment towards the phenomenal improvement of the activities of the agency following the reform measures undertaken by the present Interim Administrator of the programme.
“We also use this medium to express our total support for the reform measures designed to reinvigorate the activities of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and, as a result, call on the Federal Government to retain the appointment of Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu as the head of the PAP in order to complete the ongoing reforms that will encourage multiplier effect in the Niger Delta with the concomitant peace that follows”.