The Interim Administrator, the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Maj. Gen. Barry Ndiomu (retd), has said a total of 1,659 beneficiaries of the scheme’s scholarships are now graduates.

According to him, the beneficiaries graduated from offshore universities

The PUNCH reports that the programme was established in 2009 by the late Umaru Yar’Adua to persuade Niger Delta militants to relinquish their arms.

The programme has, however, been sustained by successive administrations

Speaking while receiving the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Affairs at the PAP’s Headquarters in Abuja, Ndiomu also disclosed that 19,000 beneficiaries had been trained in vocational skills.

A statement on Tuesday by the Administrator’s Special Assistant on Media, Freston Akpor, also said the scheme has set up a cooperative society to help nurture those who wished to be an entrepreneur among the ex-agitators.

It partly read, “The PAP is in partnership with 18 universities and 61 non-partnering universities onshore. So far, a total of 1,659 student beneficiaries under the PAP scholarship scheme have graduated from offshore universities. In addition, the Programme has trained more than 19,000 beneficiaries in vocational skills.

“While the monthly stipend payment to ex-agitators gulps about 50 percent of the annual PAP budget, Ndiomu noted that the age of beneficiaries and attendant difficulties for most of them to adapt to learning in a formal education setting necessitated the initiative of the PAP Co-operative Society Limited which is currently birthing a new breed of entrepreneurs through the provision of financial support, market linkages, and mentorship to enable to grow their businesses”.

Ndiomu also called for increased funding, adding that the amount allocated for the programme has become insufficient.

He said, “The purse of the PAP is currently stretched to the limits due to the forex challenges. This has made the cost of both local and foreign education and other training schemes highly exorbitant”.

“PAP’s annual budget is N65 billion, an amount that has remained constant while the official exchange rate since he assumed office has continuously witnessed an increase and this is severely impacting activities of the Programme.”

The lawmakers led by Eugene Dibiagwu, promised to interface with his colleagues to address the funding gap in the amnesty programme.

The lawmakers also said a presentation would be made to the President, Bola Tinubu, and the Federal Government to draw executive attention to consider an increase of the annual budget of the PAP to reflect the present economic realities. (Punch)