The Interim Administrator of Presidential Amnesty Program (PAP) Major General Barry Ndiomu, has revealed that some ex-agitators have been using multiple bank accounts to claim the N65,000 monthly stipends given as amnesty package to ex-militants in the Niger Delta region.
He revealed that in their bid to sanitize the PAP database through the verification of the payment list, they discovered that certain beneficiaries had multiple accounts linked to their BVNs.
According to him, a total of 513 beneficiaries had 1370 accounts on the payment list linked to their BVNs and another 2601 beneficiaries account is not linked to their BVN
To rectify those irregularities, he said the PAP administrator had created a portal for the affected beneficiaries to log in and those with multiple accounts linked to their BVNs were to choose just one account in order to have their payments regularized
He disclosed that a total of 1561 have been cleared and paid in full to date while the multiple account fraud has been eradicated from the payment list,” he said.
A statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the PAP interim Administrator, Freston Akpor, said the Interim Administrator has provided enormous windows of employment opportunities for ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region.
He revealed about 847 ex-agitators are currently undergoing training in various ICT specialized fields by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) with certification in digital marketing, e-mail marketing, social media marketing, computer appreciation, search engine optimization as well as technical and computer writing
He said the program under the aviation training program has sponsored 75 pilots made up of 35 ex-agitators being trained as pilots and 40 are being trained as aircraft engineers rating.and aircraft engineers in South Africa and France.
He added that other ongoing employment generation program being undertaken include provision of vocational training centers, employment opportunities in federal government agencies, and incentives for viable SMEs, saying the innovative ideas will guarantee the socio-economic sustainability of ex-agitators and young people in the Niger Delta
He mentioned that the launch of PAP Cooperative Scheme with an initial sum of N1.5billion as seed money in the account and an additional N100milliion operational fund to be solely managed by the ex-agitators was a major boost to efforts to empower the ex-agitators.
According to him, the cooperative scheme has an eminent jurist, Justice Francis Tabai, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria as chair of the board with a team of experienced consultants to assist in nurturing the cooperative into fruition. He said this will create a conducive environment for small businesses to grow to become the catalyst for economic development in the Niger Delta”, he stated.
He stated that the Ndiomu-led Amnesty program has cleared monies owed contractors to facilitate the completion of five vocational centers across the region, saying when completed the training centers will provide skills for teeming youths in the region.
Akpor disclosed that “relevant higher institutions of learning, training institutes and development partners have undertaken spot assessments to re-evaluate existing infrastructure, update software and service equipment including those left at Boro town after it was burgled to bring the centers, including an additional one to be sited in Bayelsa State up to speed and eminent take-off. The management under General Ndiomu has also cleared all debts related to ongoing training schemes.
“The Presidential Amnesty Programme has gained a huge mileage from September last year through the initiatives introduced by General Ndiomu, and his managerial acumen has impacted positively on the programme. Unfortunately, the lies and blackmail will not deter the Interim Administrator from doing what is right.”
