Senator James Manager who served as a senator representing Delta South Senatorial District of Delta State in the Nigerian Senate from 2003 to 2023 has praised High Chief Dr. Dennis Otuaro, the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, for displaying great capacity and competence in the discharge of his duties since assuming office despite the distractions from those he called enemies of the region.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Special Assistant on Media to the PAP Administrator, Mr Igoniko Oduma, on Sunday, when the PAP Boss paid Manager a consultative visit in his Abuja residence over the weekend.

The senator who did five tenure in office also stated that some of the challenges besetting the PAP are distractions that are deliberately executed by some elements who do not mean well for the Ijaw Nation and Niger Deltans at large.

Manager gave the PAP boss a pat on the back for handling the office effectively despite such distractions, and further stated that the malicious plots were designed to distract the PAP Administrator from performing his duties.

The former senator noted that Otuaro's approach to the implementation of the programme's mandate indicated that he had an idea about how to administer the programme even before President Bola Tinubu appointed him, adding that there was no doubt that Otuaro understood the challenges of the office and the problems of the Niger Delta.

He urged the PAP administrator to remain focused on his goals, and expressed delight that he had achieved a huge milestone in repositioning the office for greater service to the people of the region and the country in general.

Manager stressed that the programme was established for the sustainable peace, security, stability and development of the region, noting that Otuaro was on the right track in carrying out the programme's objectives.

He said, "Once again I want to thank you for your consultative visit. You are someone who was very involved in the struggle, and I trust that you have the capacity and competence to run the office.

"Already, you have shown capacity in the efficient manner you have handled the office and the implementation of the PAP mandate, which was created for a specific purpose and for the sustenance of the peace, security and development of the Niger Delta.

“I want to urge you to remain focused on your goals. It is true some of the challenges of the Presidential Amnesty Programme are orchestrated distractions from some elements who do not think good towards the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta. But just be focused on things your are doing," Manager added.

Earlier in his remarks, the PAP Administrator told Manager that the programme under his leadership was working assiduously to reposition it in the overall benefit of the region, and also revealed that the PAP was at its reintegration phase which was very wide in scope, stressing that with more funding the PAP office would achieve much more through its educational, vocational and post-training empowerment initiatives for the people of the region.

He said, "I know the challenges of our region. We are in the reintegration phase of the programme which is very wide in scope, and we need to do more engagement in the interest of our region and Nigeria as a whole.

"We believe that with more funding we will be able to do more for our region in terms of sustainable peace, security and unhindered development of our region. 

"We have the educational, vocational and post-training empowerment programmes that we are carrying out to accommodate everybody. We are doing whatever we are doing for the betterment of our people and our region," Otuaro assured.

#penglobalcommunity #PAP #NigerDelta