Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Prof. Charles Dokubo, has called on stakeholders to seek lasting peace in the Niger Delta region.
At the same time, people from the region have called for more funding and expansion of the programme so that more people will benefit from it.
Dokubo made the appeal at the weekend, at a PAP awareness campaign for Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states which held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He disclosed that the essence of the programme was to highlight the need for lasting peace, development, stability in the region and and to showcase the activities/achievements of President Mohammadu Buhari and the amnesty office in the Niger Delta.’
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The PAP boss who spoke through, his Special Assistant on Political Matters, Lucky Loyibo, said PAP under President Buhari had improved peace, resulting in increased oil production in the Niger Delta and restored trust and confidence of Nigeria in the international community.
Reacting to the calls for expansion of the PAP to benefit more persons, Dokubo said: “Despite the numerous achievements of PAP, we assure you of more development. The mandate was for 30,000 ex-agitators. We are working hard to see more people incorporated as only the president has the powers to incorporate more people.”
Traditional rulers, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), members of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), and other participants from the three Niger Delta states, unanimously called for more funding and expansion of PAP to benefit more persons.
The occasion was chaired by the legal adviser, Traditional Rulers of Oil Producing Communities of Nigeria, Etebom Samuel Efik, clan head of Oniong, Akwa Ibom, with Ken Robinson, Deputy National Secretary, PANDEF, and IYC’s National Secretary, Daniel Dasimaka in attendance.