By Chris Ochayi

ABUJA – President Goodluck Jonathan, Wednesday, gave reasons why the in-coming Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s administration should not contemplate scrapping the Presidential Amnesty programme for ex-militants in the Niger Delta region, warning that any attempt to terminate the programme would ignite crisis in the region.

The Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Hon. Kingsley Kuku, who gave the warning while speaking with journalists shortly after a meeting to review activities of the programme in Abuja, noted that the Amnesty Programme is a moral and not a political programme.

The presidential amnesty has transformed and still transforming lives. This is the reason why we are meeting today, reviewing the programme vis-a-vis that fact that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan our brother, the president of this country would be going back home after successfully running a four year term, having lost in the last presidential election.

He would be going back home. So, apprehensions are everywhere, worries are everywhere, what will happen to the presidential amnesty programme. The leaders are asking questions, the followers are asking questions. So I keep interfacing. I keep talking; we keep putting our heads together. Today again, we put our heads together and I have assured them on behalf of Mr. President and even on behalf of the in-coming government of which I am not going to be a part of. But I know the government will be decent. I know what decent government do all over the world.

I know what is beautiful about the outgoing government, my government, I also know that those laudable projects and programmes of this government that the in-coming government will not tamper with.

The presidential Amnesty programme is laudable, Any negative tampering of this programme will affect lives, thousands of lives. We know where we are coming from. We are coming from a background of 685,000 barrels per day of oil production in May 2008.Today, we produce 2.2million barrels, 2.3million barrels and sometimes, 2.6 million barrels per day.