The National Committee of Yoruba Youths (NCYY) has condemned the alleged campaign of calumny against the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), saying that the result of its various programmes are self-evident and have definitely impacted positively on the lives and well-being of the youths and communities in the Niger Delta region.

Apparently reacting to a call on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the activities of the PAP by the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), the organisation’ president, Comrade Oladimeji Odeyemi  and registrar, Barrister Oyewole Olurin in a statement on Tuesday, said the call for probe was concocted, unsubstantiated, pure conjectures or outright falsehood.

According to them, several published reports targeted at the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), its Managers and especially Hon. Kingsley Kuku, the immediate past Special Adviser on Niger Delta and chairman of the programme are uncalled for.

“It is curious that SERAP had already passed a guilty verdict on the PAP in the court of public opinion based on a mere hearsay from six persons about a scheme that has no fewer than 30,000 beneficiaries. This clearly shows that the group is simply acting out a script to discredit the programme, its Managers and the immediate past Chairman. 

“We equally find it amusing that SERAP could offer its platform for some cowardly political machinery to attack the PAP. These characters alleged that they had not received their monthly stipends of N65,000 under the programme since November 2010,” they said.

They argued that if truly they were among the beneficiaries, “why haven't they explored the internal mechanism within the programme to get paid. Why didn't they complain to the managers of the programme, whose doors are always open?

“Certainly, this call by SERAP and indeed the allegations lack substance. It can easily be dismissed as the handiwork of and another futile attempt by political jobbers bent on distracting the managers of the programme and to equally cast aspersions on the person of Hon. Kingsley Kuku, whose successful implementation of the presidential mandate on the programme has brought pride to our nation,” the youth said. 

They claimed that programme the result of the various programmes of the Amnesty Office were self-evident and have definitely impacted positively on the lives and well-being of the youths and communities in the Niger Delta region, adding that since the PAP commenced training in year 2009, no fewer than 20,000 ex- agitators out of the 30,000 beneficiaries have been trained locally and offshore.

Today, with the successful implementation of the Amnesty Programme, they said that Nigeria's crude oil production hovers between 2.2million barrels and 2.4million barrels per day.

While noting that these were verifiable and the figures support that the PAP did not engage in fraudulent or corrupt practices, they said what Hon. Kuku and the managers of the programme deserve were accolades and not mudslinging and wicked propaganda by evil detractors, who now see the Amnesty Programme as their next target for reasons that are far from being noble. 

“There is no doubt that political charlatans and enemies are at work fuelling unnecessary rumours and insinuation. Their aim is to destroy the good name and corporate reputation of managers of the programme,” they added.