The Niger Delta Rights Assembly (NDRA) praised President Muhammadu Buhari for selecting retired Maj.-Gen. Barry Ndiomu as the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP). The group stated that Ndiomu’s appointment was beneficial to both the Niger Delta region and the nation as a whole. In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by NDRA’s President, Chief Israel Bokromo, the group thanked Buhari for choosing Ndiomu, who has brought order and discipline to the programme. Despite pressure from people who do not have the nation’s or the Niger Delta people’s best interests at heart, Buhari did not give in and appointed Ndiomu instead, who is a man of proven military discipline and integrity. Since Ndiomu’s appointment, he has allowed an audit of the programme’s activities, which has revealed several fraudulent activities, and he has implemented reforms that have helped to block leakages and conduits through which many criminal-minded individuals have been profiting and stealing money intended for genuine ex-militants.
The NDRA commended the Buhari government for engaging critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta to maintain peace and ensure the security of oil and gas infrastructure and to stem the tide of stolen crude in the creeks. The group noted that the culture of probity, accountability, and transparency instituted by Ndiomu was yielding anticipated results, including the exposure of monumental fraud associated with flawed payment systems and contract inflation. Ndiomu’s achievements also included earning Buhari’s confidence and support, timely payment of monthly allocations, sustaining peace in the region, which led to increased crude oil production at an average of 1.67 million barrels per day, new policy initiatives on cooperatives, completion of five vocational training centers, and data sanitization to verify genuine ex-agitators. In barely six months, Ndiomu had saved the programme over N1.5 billion from inflated contracts.
Bokromo added that Ndiomu had effectively positioned the programme towards achieving its core mandate of addressing the needs of ex-militants rather than meeting the needs of a few emergency contractors who lack both competence and capacity. He, however, urged the incoming government to continue the culture of probity and fiscal responsibility established by Ndiomu to prevent future agitations.
