Although the Presidential Amnesty Office, in a face-saving measure, has denied rumours of plans to oust its coordinator who is also the Special Adviser on Niger Delta to President Buhari, General Boroh.
Recall that a non-partisan group, Niger Delta Amnesty Vendors Forum ( NDAVF) on Tuesday debunk the recent fallacious report in some section of the media celebrating the sack of the Presidential Amnesty Programme Coordinator, Brigadier GenThe group said the fake news was sponsored by a league of mischief makers.
Recent high powered delegations of stakeholders within the Niger Delta to the embattled Special Adviser and the Port Harcourt protest of Amnesty beneficiaries on Wednesday against efforts to frustrate the programme corroborate the fact that all is not well at the Amnesty Office.
According to the spokesman of the Lower Niger Delta Ex-Agitators Network, Godspower Oweifawari, in a statement, General Boroh has come under pressure in the last few weeks by the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, whom he alleged wants to have General Boroh replaced bid to create instability in the Niger Delta.
“The peace in the Niger Delta does not need to be violated on the altar of partisanship.
Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, who is clearly rejected in the Niger Delta, and has no plans to respect the sanctity of the ballot must be warned from plunging the region and country to violence. Politics is not do-or-die. Anyone who cannot command popular followership should either learn the ropes or quit the stage. Strong-arm tactics and the Incitement of violence has no place in modern politics. President Buhari should call his men to order,” Godspower Oweifawari added.
He further alleged that the plan is to ensure that certain ex-Agitators like King Ateke Michael Tom, who are perceived as not being loyalists of Rotimi Amaechi along with Amnesty beneficiaries loyal to them are denied their stipends as a means to incite them to renewed agitations and violence upon which the military is expected to be used to swoop in on them and neutralize them at worst.
“Already, Aliyu Kazeem, Director of Finance (DFA) of the Amnesty Office has received ordered to stop disbursement of funds to Amnesty beneficiaries except as directed. As a result, currently only those being approved by Rotimi Amaechi are said to be receiving their stipends.
“To facilitate the order, the DFA of the Amnesty Office has moved all related files out of his office to his home and has ceased correspondences with the Coordinator of the Amnesty Office, Gen. Boroh based on orders from Rotimi Amaechi”.
The group added that; “The bigger picture appears to be that certain high-stake Ex-Agitators adjudged not to be loyal to Rotimi Amaechi are to be neutralized before the 2019 elections, and King Ateke Tom, who recently issued a statement urging the Rivers State Governor to run for a second term in office is said to be top on the list of targets. This, from all indications is a forced bid to politicize the programme against its original plan and character.”
It would be recalled that Rivers State Government had hinted a few days ago of a grand plan to grant Amnesty to wanted cultists.
