Ex-Niger Delta Agitators Raise Alarm over N1bn Arrears of Unpaid Scholarship
…Drag Presidential Amnesty Office to Court
Ex- Niger Delta Agitators who were shortlisted under the Presidential Amnesty Programme have raised alarm over the failure of the federal government to keep to its obligation of providing scholarship for shortlisted students in the programme.
Coalition of Students in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, COSPAP, made this known in a statement issued by their lawyer, Barr. Raphael Ogbonanaotu during the weekend.
The coalition noted that for three years commencing from 2018 to mid 2021, the Amnesty office has refused to pay the students who study in various universities in the region their monthly stipends as contained in the charter to which all parties are signatories to.
The coalition noted that the excuse given by the Federal government is that they were given partial scholarship by the Federal Government, a claim the coalition insisted is not contained in any written document.
The statement offered insight to the fact that the sponsorship covered their tuition fees, accommodation, text books and in-training allowances.
The statement noted that the students affected are 512 and each student is entitled to a monthly in-training allowance of N70,000 only and N40,000 as text book allowances for a session which is divided into N20,000 only per semester.
The coalition said that the unpaid scholarship amounts to over N1bn, held in arrears by the Presidential Amnesty Office despite huge budgetary provisions made for it in 2020.
The statement added ” It is a saddening situation that has befallen innocent Niger Delta youths who choose education over social deviances by accepting scholarship from the Presidential Amnesty Office to study in various universities in the region.
” To worsen the situation, the amnesty office under the present administration deprived further payments of the chairman of the coalition, Mr. Silver Amonighoye and also threatened that he will have his sponsorship withdrawn if he continued to insist on the payment for their three years arrears.
” It is obvious that the current administrator of the programme refused to honour the charter principally on cruel political and bureaucratic grounds”.
The coalition noted that in order to seek redress over what they described as gross injustice, they have already approached the Federal High Court with hope that justice will prevail in the end.
The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has the vision to transform ex-agitators into entrepreneurs and/or employable citizens who will become net contributors to the economy of the region and the country through effective collaboration with relevant public and private institutions and state governments in the region.