By Bayo Davids
Prominent traditional rulers and stakeholders including ex-militants and leaders of the Niger Delta region have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to relieve the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Major General Barry Ndiomu (retd) over increasing agitation in the region.
The stakeholders also justified their call for Ndiomu’s sack following a directive by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu directing him (Ndiomu) to pay the sum of N1.7bn to about 15 companies allegedly belonging to one Jacob Aminu Momoh for the unexecuted contracts at the ₦60bn Amnesty Training Complex in Boro town, Kaigama, Bayelsa State in 2019.
Ndiomu’s contract expired on May 29, 2023 but he is still holding on to his office.
The complex was on February 14, 2019, vandalized for five consecutive days by criminals who had a field day.
Mr. Momoh and his 15 companies were the major contractors at the facility which had a permanent station and presence of military security officials. However, the former coordinator of the PAP had directed the security personnels to vacate the facility, and also directed that the Vocational Training Centre’s warehouses be left open as they had allegedly arranged with criminals to cart away all items previously supplied in order to cover up their nefarious activities.
As a result, they claimed that the N13bn worth of previously supplied items were carted away by the criminals.
Built by the PAP office to tackle the main challenges in transforming non-skilled ex-militants into a technically skilled workforce, the centre was to be formally opened last week before the vandalism and looting, which left many residents of the state devastated.
Recalled that the Mr Momoh and the 15 companies had filed suits at the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja seeking an order to prevail on PAP to pay for the alleged unexecuted contracts in the amount of ₦3.8billion as well as 21 per cent post–judgment fees, and special damages, which could go as high as ₦5bn to ₦8bn.
Some Niger Delta stakeholders and beneficiaries also approached the court seeking to be joined in the suit, claiming, that the list of beneficiaries presented by the 15 companies as evidence of the distributions of empowerment tools to purported Amnesty beneficiaries in the nine states of the region had been faulted by the Presidential Amnesty Office and declared unauthenticated and fake.
Similarly, the PAP Office in a letter replying the request from a law firm, Messrs. Folurunsho Aweda and Associates with reference number FAA/AMN/ABJ/MISC/29/8/22 and dated 29th August, 2022, after going through the list of names of beneficiaries as tendered by the 15 companies in connection with the distribution of empowerment items said, “the acknowledged stamp shown on the list of beneficiaries forwarded by your law firm for authentication differ from the standard stamp used by PAP to receive and acknowledge documents for vendors.”
Investigations by this medium show that Gen.Ndiomu is complaining to his advisers and aides about the directive from the office of the NSA saying, “I am ordered by NSA to pay ₦1.7billion out of the ₦3.8billion fraudulent, unexecuted Kaiama contracts. The case is still in court and the action will be sub-judicial.”
In a dramatic twist however, elders, and traditional rulers as well as ex-militant leaders are now accusing Ndiomu of engaging in deliberate campaign of calumny against Ribadu, with one of them quoted as saying “Though, I don’t work in the Presidential Amnesty office, but we have been getting first-hand information on the last minute and desperate attempts to cover up alleged fraud and initiate new one through illegal contract awards and unholy deductions from beneficiaries of the Amnesty cooperative scheme and Scholarship scheme.”
One of them said, “You have read about the last minute award of a N2.9 bn contract for the training of 139 pilots to Alom Aviation Limited, two weeks to the end of his tenure.The contract award has raised concerns as it appears to violate the Procurement Act 2019, as amended, which mandates a 30 per cent mobilization fee for contracts.
“Despite years of complaints and petition for a review of the budgetary spendings and performance of the Interim Administrator and the Amnesty office, the sustained investigation showed that the interim status attached to the Presidential Amnesty programme may have been responsible for the under performance, years of fraudulent diversion of funds and protests by the Amnesty beneficiaries over monthly stipends and unpaid scholarship fees.
“We have pointed out that for the President’s vision to be impacted in the lives of beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, he should immediately direct the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu to suspend or sack Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (rtd.) as the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and in his place, appoint the most senior civil servant to take over the running and administration of the Presidential Amnesty Programme pending the appointment of a Substantive Coordinator.”
Meanwhile, the ex-militants are now set to embark on a protest march in the streets of the Federal Capital Territory in the next few weeks if their call for Ndiomu’s removal fall in dear ears.