The attention of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has been drawn to contents trending on various social media platforms with a rumored outright cancellation of the scholarship scheme.

For the avoidance of doubt, the PAP had not at any time announced the cancellation of the ongoing scholarship scheme to eligible beneficiaries.

According to an official statement issued by the PAP on 06/01/2023 which clearly emphasized that the Presidential Amnesty Programme scholarship scheme has temporarily been placed on hold due to financial constraints  occasioned by the huge debt profile associated with the Formal Education component of the programme.

Evidently, the recent award of scholarships (not by the present management) were done without recourse to proper budgetary considerations and efficient financial planning thus having an adverse effect on PAP’s current budgetary needs.

It will therefore defy any logical reasoning on the part of the office to commence award of fresh scholarships without adequately restructuring of it’s current debts and effectively planning with available resources vis-a-vis intended new programs.

The PAP under it’s current leadership recognizes and acknowledges the importance of education and capacity building to the growth and development of the Niger Delta and will therefore not relent in doing everything possible to ensure that formal education opportunities are made available to beneficiaries of the Programme.

Freston Akpor

SA Media, Presidential Amnesty Programme