The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has suspended the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr Charles Quaker Dokubo, over fraud allegations.
Buhari wielded the big stick following the recommendation of a panel chaired by the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd.).
The State House said in a statement on Friday night that the panel had looked into the “numerous allegations and petitions surrounding the Presidential Amnesty Programme” and came to the conclusion that Dokubo should be suspended.
In Dokubo’s place, a caretaker committee has been appointed by Buhari to review the programme by bringing its operations in line with the objective of the scheme.
The mandate of the Monguno panel was to “ensure that allocated resources are properly utilised in consonance with government’s objective of alleviating problems in the Niger Delta region, and stamping out corruption in the amnesty programme.”
As for the review committee, the statement, which was signed by Buhari’s media aide, Mr Femi Adesina, said it was directed to review the programme and “oversee the running of the programme henceforth, with a view to ensuring that government objectives are achieved.”
Dokubo and the PAP had been in the news lately, with one of the allegations being that 75 ex-militants said he did not pay them their allowances totalling N492million.
The ex-militants alleged that the money covered their monthly stipend of N65,000 from January 2011 to May 2019.
Another allegation was that Dokubo “manipulated” the allocation of 75 slots to the Benuwolo Camp in breach of operational procedures.
Recall that in December 2019, the ex-militants had sued Dokubo before the Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, over the same matter.
The court had summoned Dokubo to appear before it on January 21 to answer to the allegations of fraud raised by the ex-militants.
Amid the development, Buhari too waded in, setting up the Monguno panel to investigate all the allegations levelled against the coordinator.
Incidentally, Dokubo was also Buhari’s Special Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs.
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