The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has announced that it has fully paid for the scholarships, tuition, and In-Training-Allowance (ITA) of 3,000 students from the Niger Delta region, both within Nigeria and abroad, for the 2022/2023 academic session. Freston Akpor, the Special Assistant to the Interim Administrator of PAP, Maj Gen. Barry Ndiomu (Rtd), made this statement.
Akpor dismissed claims that the current administration has not deployed delegates under the scholarship program, labeling such insinuations as mischievous, uncharitable, and ungodly. He also emphasized the PAP’s efforts to establish the Formal Education Trust Fund to enhance the formal education scheme of the program.
Akpor highlighted that instead of canceling the incomplete scholarships awarded by his predecessor and initiating a fresh process, Gen. Ndiomu has chosen to rectify and adopt the existing process. As a result, all fees for 1,700 PAP students studying in tertiary institutions across the country have been paid, along with an additional 55 delegates entering their first year in various universities abroad.
He urged the public to disregard the claims made by mischief-makers, asserting that despite facing a barrage of misinformation against Gen. Ndiomu since assuming office on September 19 of the previous year, he has successfully rectified the program’s operations. This included settling unpaid scholarship awards, addressing incomplete vocational training centers, non-formal education programs, and a substantial financial burden.
“While the PAP would normally avoid engaging with faceless individuals behind unsubstantiated statements, it is necessary to set the record straight to prevent stakeholders and the public from being exposed to and influenced by misleading narratives in the media,” Akpor stated.
He further explained that since Gen. Ndiomu assumed leadership, he has strategically resolved all inherited debts through tactical financial models. These debts included outstanding payments to critical contractors, agencies, and scholarship recipients.
