Warri—The helmsman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Major General Barry Ndiomu (retd), has disclosed that those peddling lies and sponsoring frivolous petitions against his administration are resisting the positive reforms and changes he has since his appointment as Interim Administrator.
Ndiomu said this weekend during a scheduled meeting with Niger Delta traditional rulers in Warri, Delta State tagged “Peace and Security in the Region.”
The Amnesty boss told the monarchs who were led by HRM, King Joseph Timiyan, the Paramount Ruler of Ogulagha Kingdom, that if he had maintained the status quo and allowed the alleged irregularities discovered in capturing beneficiaries of the programme to continue, he would have failed from the onset.
According to him, “It is difficult to bring about change when people are used to certain ways that bring them benefits, even if the ways do not conform with the purpose for which that Programme was set up in the first place.”
Ndiomu added that the decision to delist beneficiaries was geared towards sanitizing the system to ensure transparency going forward.
Speaking on the financial records of the Amnesty Programme, Ndiomu told the traditional rulers that his administration has almost cleared inherited debts from previous administrations.
He revealed that the PAP under his leadership has initiated talks with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other agencies to absolve graduates and non-graduates from the region.
Before the end of March this year, another set of ex-agitators will be employed in the Federal Civil Service, he added.
Ndiomu further told the monarchs that the PAP is leveraging on the pipeline surveillance contract currently being handled by Tantita Security Services, owned by Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo, to absorb a critical number of ex-agitators.
In his brief remarks, King Timiyan who also doubles as the Chairman of the Ijaw Traditional Rulers Forum, Delta State, regretted that past leaderships of the PAP dealt directly with ex-agitators without consulting them (monarchs).
He therefore commended Ndiomu for recognising the importance of royal fathers in the Amnesty process.
In his words: “The current leadership of the Amnesty Programme is a bit different, and I think he (Ndiomu) is going to do better.”
Mangrovepen.ng gathered that the traditional rulers jointly endorsed Ndiomu while calling for an open-door policy to allow for easy and “time-to-time” conversation.
The monarchs insisted that Ndiomu’s great achievements in a relatively short period remain the cause of the numerous petitions against him.
Our reporter learned that Ndiomu’s meeting with the Niger Delta traditional rulers is part of his strategic stakeholders’ engagement aimed at achieving the mandate of the PAP as well as changing its negative narrative.
