Port Harcourt–The Niger Delta Integrity Group (NDIG) has rubbished claims that elders, traditional rulers and other “ominous” groups have called for the sack of the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Major General Barry Ndiomu (rtd).
In a statement released on Friday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State by Convener of the NDIG, Dr. Boma Horsfall, the group affirmed strongly that Ndiomu who has enormous respect for traditional institutions enjoys a cordial relationship with the monarchs and elders in the oil-rich region.
He said this has been demonstrated in Ndiomu’s series of meetings with the traditional rulers and other critical stakeholders across the region, during which he has engaged them on innovative policies to bring the teeming youths out of the dark and create sustainable livelihoods for them.
“The NDIG after conducting due diligence and investigation, discovered that these resentful elements who issued a misleading statement titled: ‘Amnesty Fraud: Stakeholders write Tinubu, halt N5.6b fraudulent payment hanging on GIFMIS platform, seek immediate hand-over to the most senior director’, are not ex-agitators and are fictitious designations that are not captured in the PAP database.
“For the records, their claims are false and non-existent. It is disappointing that they have now descended to an all-time low level of lunacy. Who are the purported elders and traditional rulers that endorsed the statement?
“It is public knowledge that all critical stakeholders of the Niger Delta region, including elders and traditional rulers, are in full support of Ndiomu’s undertakings at the PAP. These are people he has constantly and continuously engaged with,” he said.
While affirming that General Ndiomu is widely loved and accepted across the region, the NDIG urged the Interim Administrator “not to be deterred by the whims and caprices of a few dishonest elements who are displaying the shortsighted physiognomies of some of our people.”
“Thus, the general public is advised to disregard such sponsored statements from these unprincipled individuals who have in the past come forth with fraudulent and bogus contract claims that PAP has refused to attend to.
“They have in the past been fished out as those having multiple accounts linked to one BVN, fraudulently collecting monthly stipends for many years,” the statement reads in part.
The NDIG commended the Amnesty boss on the recently launched Cooperative Scheme, adding that the group considers it “one of the best ways to create windows of opportunities for youths in the region.”
