As the stakeholders meeting organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta (OSAPND) and Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), High Chief Dr. Dennis Otuaro, enters its third day, the Amnesty Boss has again reiterated the support of the present administration as led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu towards the transformation of the government's initiative geared at fostering peace and human capital development in the region.

The stakeholders meeting which began on Friday, June 21, at the KFT Place in Warri, Delta State, continued on Day 3 as Dr. Otuaro continued his brainstorming deliberations with phase three delegates of the programme from across the region on Monday, June 24, 2024.

In the course of the deliberations, the Amnesty Boss thanked the delegates for their zeal in attending the stakeholders' meeting on a short notice and reiterated his commitment to restoring the programme for the benefit of all, hence his direct engagements even though he has been meeting privily with other stakeholders.

Dr. Otuaro, who earlier gave room for delegates to air their views on the PAP, assured all stakeholders of his resolve to strategically look into the complaints raised with an objective to finding lasting solutions to them.

However, the Amnesty Boss warned against the introduction of factions among third phase members and stressed on the need for all stakeholders to speak with one voice in order to present a common stand on taking the amnesty programme to the next level as the President is ready to do the needful to sustain the successes recorded in the programme.

On the issue of stipends, Dr. Otuaro reminded delegates to look beyond the N65,000k stipends as the amnesty programme is more geared towards providing avenues for stakeholders to sustain themselves and become a source of jobs and wealth creation in the society, while also laying emphasis that he will not shoulder the responsibilities of accumulated stipends from past administrators.

“We are all casualties of the struggle. It is not only those that shoot guns," Dr. Otuaro said while addressing delegates. "The programme is beyond me and you. We must look beyond the N65,000k. Come with genuine complaints I will attend to. But I don’t want someone to come and be dragging me with arrears of the previous administrators. I have no power to pay for previous administrators bills. I want us to work as partners and create the needed environment for the programme to strive," he appealed.

The stakeholders' meeting which has as its theme: “Fostering, Consolidating and Collaborating for the Peace, Security, Stability and Development of the Niger Delta" is an attempt by the Administrator of the PAP to get the amnesty programme back on its track by interacting with all phases of delegates as well as other stakeholders in the region on the way forward towards advancing the programme and streamlining it to its core vision.

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