The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr Dennis Otuaro, has said mobilising massive support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is within the strategic national interest of the Ijaw and Niger Delta people
He implored Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide to lead the mobilisation of support for Tinubu’s re-election next year.
A statement signed by Otuaro’s Special Assistant, Media, Mr Igoniko Oduma, said the PAP boss spoke when the newly-inaugurated 10th leadership of the IYC, led by its President, Dr Doubra Okotete, paid him a visit in his office in Abuja.
He enjoined them to guard against division in the region, and mobilise strongly for President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Otuaro said: ‘My appeal to the IYC is that nothing should divide us, 2027 is already here. Let us back the President and mobilise for him to win a second term.
‘We should not allow anybody to cause division among us or trade us for a new hope. It is within the Ijaw strategic national interest to support the President to secure victory.’
Otuaro lauded the council and other well-meaning stakeholders of the Niger Delta for their cooperation and support for PAP’s peace-building process in the region.
Describing the support as massive and encouraging, he noted that they had always expressed solidarity with his peace efforts and the result-oriented reforms he introduced to reposition the PAP.
Expressing his appreciation for the gesture, he said: ‘Many well-meaning stakeholders of the Niger Delta, including the IYC, are in support of the direction we have taken.
‘Their support and cooperation have been massive and encouraging, working together with the office to sustain peace and stability, and the generations we are preparing for a greater tomorrow in the Niger Delta through huge scholarships.’
He noted that only a few selfish elements had remained unsettled by the sanity that his reforms had achieved, particularly the scholarship scheme expansion and the huge deployments of beneficiaries to onshore and offshore universities.
He told the IYC leaders that 8,700 are currently studying in-country, while over 270 had been sent to offshore institutions, in addition to the 93 deployed in January and May, and the 150 being dispatched this August/September.
Otuaro said President Tinubu and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, were happy with what ‘we are doing to consolidate sustainable peace in our region and the enormous scholarships.’
The PAP boss thanked the IYC for the visit, stressing that sustaining the peace and stability of the region was a collective responsibility.
Earlier, the IYC President said the visit was in recognition of the PAP’s ‘unprecedented success in the education and empowerment of Niger Delta youths under Dr Otuaro.”
Okotete lauded the PAP helmsman for his commitment and judicious application of funds, which had helped thousands of the region’s youths to receive quality education.
He expressed the council’s readiness to work with Otuaro and also seek areas of greater partnership between the PAP and the IYC.