Ijaw youths condemn smear campaign against PAP boss, Dennis Otuaro

The Ijaw Youths Network (IYN) has expressed concerns over what it called a deliberate smear campaign targeting Dr. Dennis Otuaro, the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

In a statement issued on Friday, the group accused unidentified individuals and their backers of spreading false accusations of financial misconduct against Otuaro in an effort to tarnish his reputation.

The IYN specifically took aim at a group calling itself the “Niger Delta Liberators and Ex-Agitators Forum (NGLEF),” which recently alleged that Otuaro was involved in fraudulent financial dealings, including the approval of contracts for unregistered and inactive companies.

A representative of NGLEF, one Odey Otunu, had claimed that Otuaro had approved a staggering N50 billion for a company with no legal standing in Nigeria.

The IYN pointed out that Otuaro, who was appointed in March 2024, has overseen various initiatives such as scholarship payments, stakeholder engagements, and vocational training programs. The group questioned how he could have allocated such a large sum to a non-existent company as claimed by the so-called NGLEF, urging those behind the smear to recognize that not everyone can be in charge of PAP at the same time.

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The IYN dismissed the allegations as baseless and confirmed through its own investigation that the claims were fabricated. The group also noted that these attacks appeared to be orchestrated by the same individuals responsible for a protest against Otuaro at the United Nations headquarters in New York last December.

The IYN linked the smear campaign to the refusal of Otuaro to misuse the PAP as a tool for financial mismanagement, highlighting his significant reforms since assuming office, including the expansion of the PAP scholarship scheme and the introduction of vocational training initiatives aimed at addressing the skills gap in the Niger Delta region.

The IYN urged all stakeholders to disregard the false claims and instead support the ongoing reforms under Otuaro’s leadership.

The full statement reads: “It has come to the notice of the Ijaw Youths Network that some mischief makers and their sponsors are bent on pulling down the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr. Dennis Otuaro, by dishing out lies of financial impropriety against him to deceive members of the public and the government.

“The latest of such campaigns against the PAP administrator is by a suspicious group that styles itself as ‘Niger Delta Liberators and Ex-Agitators Forum (NGLEF).’ The group which is without any digital imprint, and appeared to have been founded with the sole aim of smearing Dr. Otuaro claimed in some reports that the PAP Administrator ‘does not observe due process and that he engages in fraudulent disbursement of public funds to his proteges.’

“The group, through one Odey Otunu, also claimed among others that the PAP Administrator “approved and disbursed funds to the tune of N50 billion to “an inactive and unregistered company in the country.” This is pathetic!

“The Ijaw Youths Network has taken time to investigate the malicious allegations by the group and can say with a high degree of certainty that these allegations are mere fabrications cooked up to distract Dr. Otuaro, who has taken deliberate steps to reposition the PAP.

“The wild claim against Dr. Otuaro can only make meaning to those who are deep into the mischief of peddling lies against him. Dr. Otuaro was appointed in March 2024 and the PAP under him has undertaken many bold programmes in the area of the ongoing scholarship scheme, vocational training, stakeholder engagements. So where did he get N50 billion to give to a non-existent company? The claim is both ridiculous and ludicrous.

“We know as a fact the so-called NGLEF lied when it claimed that the PAP boss does not follow due process and that the Administrator approves and disburses funds to “an inactive and unregistered company.” Our finding reveals that contrary to the falsehoods peddled by the group, the Office of the PAP Administrator only deals with registered and active firms. It is therefore laughable for the group to allege the contrary.

“Since assuming office in 2024, the PAP Administrator, Dr. Otuaro has proven to be a prudent manager of funds, and has followed due process in the management of the affairs of the Programme.

“It is clear from the ill-advised attack on the PAP Administrator that the strange group and their sponsors are the same people who orchestrated a protest against him in front of the United Nations building in New York last December, which we responded to.

“We discovered that the major grouse of this newfound group and their sponsors is that the PAP Administrator has refused to pander to their request to make the PAP Office a cash cow after a comprehensive review of the Programme under his focused leadership, which led him to stop payments of suspicious contracts. That is probably their motivation for the unwarranted attacks, and the campaign of calumny against the competent Administrator.

“We believe the PAP Administrator deserves commendations for the latest strides of the agency, especially the expansion of the Programme’s scholarship scheme to a historic level, the engagement of numerous vocational training programmes within and outside Nigeria to bridge the skills gap in the Niger Delta.”