Group advises FG against scrapping Presidential Amnesty Programme
A civil society group, the Niger Delta Progressive Youth Forum (NDPYF) has advised the federal government against scrapping the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
The group said that scrapping the amnesty programme will an impression of insensitivity on the part of the federal government capable of leading to adverse implications.
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The group in a press statement signed by its National President, Napoleon Ehiremen, stated that the federal government should focus more on appointing people that are not politically tainted to oversee the programme rather than contemplating scrapping it.
According to the group, the creation of the programme by the federal government under the leadership of late President Musa Yar’adua was the best decision taken to arrest the deteriorating insecurity in the region, adding that the laudable programme must not be allowed to die as the consequences were better imagined.
“The NDPYF in all humility and sense of purpose wishes to advise the federal government to avoid appointing politicians or anybody affiliated to any militant camp as this has affected the performance of the amnesty programme and also created needless tension, rambling, bickering and rivalries among stakeholders in the region,” the group added.
Why cautioning against politicizing the affairs of the organisation and using its funds for political settlements, the NDPYF advised the president to shun political interference and consider civil society organizations as neutral bodies to be appointed into the amnesty programme.
“The Presidential Amnesty Programme has struggled to achieve the little it has so far because it has become too political in its dealings. Essentially allowing politicians to be deeply involved in the activities of organization is poor and this regrettably has impacted negatively in the discharge of its responsibilities to the ex agitators and the region at large.
“Also, the organisation’s funds are being diverted to areas that are not under its terms of contract or the reasons for which it was set up,” he said.
The NDPYF however, enjoined the President to consider his next appointment from among the civil societies organizations that have distinguished themselves in the pursuance of peace in the region, adding that this would create a level of neutrality and enhance performance.
