By Jimitota Onoyume

Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, has called on the federal government to search thoroughly for credible persons to constitute the Presidential Amnesty office Management committee, saying it is opposed to the appointment of a caretaker committee to run the place.

National President of the body, Mr Eric Omare made the call yesterday in Warri, Delta State, saying the office was created for ex-agitators so it should be returned to its owners.

“We oppose the idea of appointing a caretaker committee for the Amnesty office as it was done for the NDDC. We do not see the reason for appointing a caretaker committee for the Amnesty office.

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The position of the IYC is that in order to reposition the Amnesty office, the Presidency should return the programme to its owners (beneficiaries) in order to implement its original master plan. The amnesty programme is not an all-comers programme but was created for only Ex-Agitators in the Niger Delta region with clear cut objectives.

Therefore, the Presidency should search inward for those with a good understanding of the programme to constitute the Amnesty office Management committee in its reorganization efforts. We will resist efforts to continue to use the Amnesty office as political patronage agency as it has recently become.”

The body further welcomed the intention of the federal government to probe the office, adding that it would bring sanity to the office.

“The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide welcomes the decision by President Buhari to carry out a probe into the financial activities of the Presidential Amnesty Office in order to bring probity and accountability into the programme”, he said.

VANGUARD