The Itsekiri Congress United Kingdom (ICUK), the apex umbrella body representing Itsekiri diaspora organisations in the United Kingdom, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Security Adviser, NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to urgently investigate what it described as the alleged systematic exclusion and marginalisation of qualified Itsekiri youths from the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, foreign scholarships and other capacity building initiatives.
In a joint statement issued by the ICUK President, Mr Sunny Oritsegbubemi Okuku, and the Public Relations Officer, Mr Norris Orighoye, the organisation expressed concern over what it described as the glaring absence of qualified Itsekiri beneficiaries from recent high profile academic and technical programmes implemented under the PAP.
ICUK specifically cited the deployment of more than 270 beneficiaries for specialised postgraduate studies abroad in fields including Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, Data Science, Maritime/Energy Law, Forensic Auditing, Fintech Analytics and Construction Engineering Management.
According to reports available to the diaspora leadership, the organisation alleged that the scholarship cohort showed significant ethnic imbalance, with the beneficiaries allegedly drawn almost exclusively from select Ijaw communities, particularly Gbaramatu, and networks linked to certain political interests, with little or no representation from eligible Itsekiri candidates.
ICUK said the Presidential Amnesty Programme was established as a federally funded security, development and stabilisation initiative for impacted Niger Delta communities and should not be perceived as an exclusive patronage network or ethnic preserve.
The organisation therefore demanded a transparent public disclosure of the selection criteria and metrics used in awarding the foreign scholarships, stressing that the alleged complete omission of qualified Itsekiri candidates from a 270-person advanced scholarship cohort required urgent clarification. ICUK also appealed to the Office of the NSA to review the offshore postgraduate deployment and verify the beneficiaries and selection process.
The organisation further raised concerns over the ongoing deployment of approximately 3,900 PAP beneficiaries to tertiary institutions across Nigeria for the 2025/2026 academic session.
ICUK urged the PAP leadership to ensure that the ongoing online application exercises were conducted transparently and did not merely serve to legitimise predetermined beneficiary lists. It called on the NSA’s office to mandate the publication of quota distributions, selection criteria and verifiable merit-based standards across all participating oil-producing ethnic nationalities, so that qualified beneficiaries can have confidence in the process.
The congress specifically called on the Special Adviser to the President on the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Dr Dennis Burutu Otuaro, to rise above what it described as parochial considerations and administer the programme in accordance with the principles of federal character, equity, fairness and transparency.
ICUK noted that historical disputes surrounding administrative partiality and community delineation in Delta State remain fresh in the minds of the people, warning that any perception of ethnic favouritism under the present PAP leadership could reignite distrust and undermine the hard-won peace in the oil-rich coastal belt.
Reiterating that the Itsekiri nation has historically remained a peaceful and law-abiding host to major oil and gas infrastructure, ICUK warned that the community’s peaceful disposition should not be exploited or misconstrued as weakness.
The organisation demanded immediate affirmative action to integrate qualified Itsekiri beneficiaries into upcoming vocational training tranches, professional certification programmes and subsequent foreign educational opportunities.
It also urged Dr Otuaro to demonstrate good faith by engaging directly with accredited Itsekiri stakeholders in order to identify and address any disparities in the implementation of the programme.
ICUK therefore urged President Tinubu and NSA Ribadu to act decisively by instituting a comprehensive review of both the foreign postgraduate scholarship deployment and the onshore tertiary education admission lists.
The organisation maintained that justice, equity, fairness and verifiable transparency must remain the guiding principles of the Presidential Amnesty Programme if it is to retain public confidence, legitimacy and fulfil its mandate across the Niger Delta.