The Coordinator Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh has denied the corruption allegations against him circulating in the social media.
Boroh, also the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that the allegations which was made against him in a petition entitled; “Cancer of Corruption’’ by the Niger Deltans for Accountability and Good Governance (NDAGG) was on false grounds.
According to Boroh, it is a common assertion that every coin has two sides, so does a story and so his case is not different.
NAN recalls that the said petition to President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged corrupt practices in PAP, started making the rounds on social media about three months ago and was signed by the management of NDAGG.
Boroh said attempts to reach the petitioners after an initial response made by PAP proved abortive, yet the ‘petition’ kept surfacing on different social media platforms.
“This faceless petitioner by all intent and purpose seems bent on distracting the Programme from consolidating and improving on its modest achievements since its inception in 2009.
“It is a known fact that such petition would help to tackle corruption and mismanagement of PAP and any other intervention from the government if they are properly authored and backed with facts and supporting documents which this particular petition lacks.
“To begin with, one should always be weary of write-ups filled with more adjectives than necessary as the petition is laden with.
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“Terms like ‘corruption personified’, ‘top ranking officials’, ‘power play’, monumental scam’, ‘phantom project’, etc, all appeal more to the emotions than intellect of readers and say a lot about the intentions of the author,’’ he said.
Boroh said that some of the allegations made in the petition which includes the “power play that led to some top ranking officials who supposedly threatened going public’’, is at best, a figment of the petitioner’s imagination, otherwise, the group should provide proof of such threat.
He said the allegation that there was, “an attempt to short change the beneficiaries of the programme as commonly done before’’, is an attempt to taint the good image of his leadership.
He expressed the hope that this clarification puts to rest the unfounded controversy and deliberate attempt to smear the good image of its leadership which had continued to resurface in spite of efforts to put records straight for the benefit of everyone who wished to see the region’s development above sycophancy.
Boroh said that the Programme had achieved its Short and Medium Term Objectives of ensuring peace as well as stabilising the security situation in the Niger Delta region through training and empowerment of ex-militants.
He said the ex-militants were trained on various skills which include Internationally Certified Pilots, Air Traffic Operators, lawyers, medical personnel, professional welders, artisans, fashion designers, hospitality managers, sports and farming.
He said that PAP had been key to the resolution of the region Question and calming youth restiveness.
