The Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku has called key opposition figure Bola Tinubu to order over comments made regarding the amnesty programme.
Tinubu had said on Monday that the amnesty programme was a conduit for cronies of the Jonathan administration and a slush fund for the boys.
His words: “The amnesty conceived from inception has been corrupted and hijacked by the President’s clique. It is one of Nigeria’s drainpipes. A slush fund for political expeditions and a conduit to siphon money to the boys.”
However in response, Kuku blasted the former Lagos governor over his lack of understanding of the programme, and using another opportunity to politicize simple matters.
Kuku said, “A total number of 30,000 persons are enlisted in the Amnesty Programme. Of this number, over 16,000 have been deployed to universities as well as vocational training centres within the country and abroad for various skills acquisition programmes and formal education.”
“It is regrettable that as a former governor of a state like Lagos, his stock-in-trade is not only to politicise every policy or programme of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration but also vilely tries to achieve political capital through such less than salutary criticisms.
“As a security stabilisation programme for the hitherto restive Niger Delta, the amnesty programme has achieved its objective ,through well thought-out vocational training and formal education schemes for the former agitators in the region.”
Kuku asked Tinubu to furnish proof of his claims or remain silent.
Kuku added, “Is it a programme that has trained no fewer than 16,000 Niger Delta youths in three years that is a drain pipe?
“Is it a scheme through which commercial pilots have been produced for Nigeria that is a drain pipe? What about the delegates currently undergoing jet/type-rating training at the Lufthansa Pilot Institute in Germany?
“Is it a programme that is producing aviation professionals, aeronautical engineers, marine/maritime technicians and technologists that is a conduit?”
“At the peak of the crisis in 2009, Nigeria’s crude production fell from 2.2 million barrels per day to as low as 700,000 barrels per day.
“Today, following the proclamation and implementation of the amnesty programme, crude production hovers between 2.4 million and 2.6 million barrels per day.”