‘Current budget no longer enough’ — Ijaw youths seek more funds for amnesty programme

The Youth Council (IYC) has called on the federal government to approve more funds for the presidential amnesty programme (PAP).

Jonathan Lokpobiri, the president of IYC, spoke in Abuja on Tuesday during a courtesy visit to Dennis Otuaro, the administrator of PAP.

Lokpobiri said the PAP’s scope is expanding and should no longer be run with its current budget, which he noted had remained the same for many years.

He said the present economic realities and emerging challenges in the region have made it more compelling for more funds to be appropriated for the programme.

The Ijaw youth’s leader appealed to President Bola Tinubu, the ministers of budget and finance, and the leadership of the national assembly to see the need to make more funds available for PAP.

“As Ijaw Youth Council, we have done a careful assessment of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and the massive achievements that the programme has recorded over the years,“ Lokpobiri said.

“However, our assessment showed that the programme can no longer run effectively with its current budget because, when it was conceived, the dollar was exchanging for N120.

“Today, this same programme is still being run with the same budgetary provision of N65 billion for a whole year. Currently, the dollar is exchanging for N1,700 and the funding of the programme has remained stagnant while the needs of the programme are expanding.

“We, as council, want to passionately appeal to President Bola Tinubu, the minister of finance, the minister of budget, the national assembly, the senate president, and the leadership of the national assembly to work together to improve the funding of the programme.

“There is so much that is expected from this programme because if the Niger Delta fails, Nigeria will pay more.

“The PAP is at the driver’s seat of sustaining the peace in the Niger Delta. So the need to expand this programme to accommodate more people is very important at this point in time.”

Lokpobiri commended Otuaro for repositioning the PAP and “bringing the programme back to our people in the Niger Delta”.

He praised the administrator’s leadership role and his policy of inclusion, which had engendered stability in the region.

Lokpobiri assured the PAP boss of the support of IYC and also thanked him for identifying with the youth body.