Amnesty: President Tinubu has approved upward review of PAP budgetary allocation _ Otuaro informs ex-agitators, reveal plans

The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Chief Dennis Otuaro, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has authorized an increased reassessment of the budgetary allocation for the program in the 2025 budget.

Speaking during a meeting in Warri on Friday with former agitators from the Niger Delta in the phases 1, 2, and 3, Chief Otuaro said PAP has received over 25,000 applications in this years scholarship from the time the registration page began early this year till last month.

The amnesty boss while signaling a better PAP ahead, noted that the review of the budgetary allocation will enable the program to accommodate more persons including women.

“I want to reassure you that Mr. President is interested in our budget review,” he remarked, addressing the delegates. Otuaro repeated, “We would evaluate our budget upward in the 2025 budget to accommodate more people, notably more women.

About the difficulties faced by some beneficiaries while getting their monthly stipend, the PAP Administrator said “many difficulties, including the BVN troubles some people had has been handled. And I would lead the resolution of every other problem. As long as the issue is legitimate and falls under the purview of PAP, I will make every effort to find a solution.”

On the scholarship applications, Chief Otuaro stated that the education desk is exerting a great deal of effort in the selection process and that a comprehensive background check would be conducted prior to any individual being shortlisted for the scholarship.

“As everyone is aware, our scholarship portal was active from the beginning of the year until last month. There were more than 25,000 applications, which is a significant amount. However, the selecting process would shortly be initiated by the education bureau.

“However, a comprehensive background investigation of the community the candidate claimed to be a part of would be done before anyone was chosen. I’m going to phone the camp director, the chairman of the community, and anybody else I can reach out to for confirmation.

“You are aware, nonetheless, that we are unable to exclude certain individuals. For instance, we might not go through all of these procedures if an applicant received a 350 on the JAMB. Such candidates would be accepted with little background investigation. We shall provide our people with the means to pursue higher education.

Emphasizing on empowerment and vocational training, he said “we are going to review the vocational training upward, we’re going to evaluate our initiative for empowerment. However, we won’t just hand out starter packs to anyone. After determining your area of interest, we place you with an organization that shares your interests, and after about a year, we can now give you the confidence to launch your own business.”

In response to the planned nationwide protest on October 1, Otuaro urged the former agitators to convince their people not to participate, reassuring them that President Tinubu is making every effort to resolve issues in the area.

Making reference, the PAP boss revealed that the Federal Government had given a Chinese firm the contract for the East-West Road, promising that construction would soon begin.

Individuals who took turns to speak on behalf of the ex-agitators reassured the PAP Administrator that no one from the area would participate in the demonstration because President Tinubu’s administration cannot be evaluated using just the few months he has been in office.

The meeting was said to be the PAP administrator’s second meeting with the former agitators as he resume office this year.

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