𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗧𝗔 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗦 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗕𝗘𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗠𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗬 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗠𝗘 (𝗣𝗔𝗣)
𝗡𝗗-𝗣𝗬𝗟𝗙 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗗𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗺𝗯. 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁The Niger Delta Progressive Youths Leadership Foundation (ND-PYLF) has called on youths of the region to think beyond the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), stressing that their destiny cannot be tied perpetually to the initiative.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, the National President of ND-PYLF, Chief Diplomat Amb. Adam E.O.O. Marbo, noted that PAP was never designed for the general Niger Delta populace but specifically for 30,000 ex-combatants who willingly surrendered arms in 2009 under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s declaration of amnesty.
According to him, the programme was structured in three phases — First Phase (20,192 ex-agitators), Second Phase (6,166), and Third Phase (3,642) — strictly for those captured in the Federal Government’s verified database.
Chief Marbo clarified the controversy surrounding the alleged 5,000 students linked to Novena University, Ogume, Delta State, and other institutions. He explained that during the tenure of late Prof. Charles Quaker Dokubo as Coordinator of PAP, fraudulent deployments were uncovered by an investigative committee.
“The findings revealed that the majority of the candidates parading themselves as PAP beneficiaries were never captured in the official PAP database,” Marbo revealed, adding that racketeers had infiltrated the system, misleading unsuspecting Niger Delta youths.
He insisted that the issue predates the current Administrator, High Chief Dr. Dennis Burutu Otuaro, and therefore, it is unfair to attribute the controversy to his leadership.
The ND-PYLF President further clarified that the Itsekiri nationality did not submit arms during the disarmament process but were accommodated into PAP with 500 slots through the Itsekiri National Youth Council (INYC) under the leadership of Hon. Kingsley Kuku.
This fact is important to set the record straight. The programme was never a free-for-all but a structured process designed to address a specific problem,” Marbo stated.
To prevent similar fraudulent deployments in the future, Amb. Marbo recommended that all original PAP scholarship beneficiaries must be issued sponsorship letters and valid PAP identification cards.
This will not only sanitize the system but also protect genuine beneficiaries from exploitation by racketeers,he stressed.
Marbo urged Niger Delta youths to stop seeing PAP as the only path to progress, noting that while it played a role in stabilizing the region, the time has come for broader development thinking.
We must rise above dependency on PAP and embrace unity, peace, love, and ethnic integration as the true building blocks for the Niger Delta’s sustainable future,” he declared.
Unity is our strength. Let love keep us together. We rise for a purpose,” the ND-PYLF President concluded, reaffirming his commitment to justice, fairness, and the collective advancement of the Niger Delta.
Ndoni Timipre Creek Voice Ezekiel Daniel N Delta Eye New Niger-delta Mirror Ndm Ogomugo Marbo Dr. Dennis Otuaro
