September 02, (THEWILL) – The Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Major General Barry Ndiomu, has denied reports of alleged fraud in the Presidential Amnesty Office.
A Daily Times report, in its Saturday edition titled, “Rot in Presidential Amnesty Programme Angers Stakeholders”, had alleged that certain members of staff in the office of the Interim Administrator of the Amnesty Office, are being paid huge amounts for welfare.
The report had alleged that “the Head of Reintegration, Mr Wilfred Musa, receives N15 million per month, the Head of Procurement N15 million as well, while the Head of Administration, Mrs Balogun, gets about N10 million.
“Heads of Protocol, Audit, and some aides of the boss at the office, receive about N10 million as welfare in the agency.”
But Ndiomu, in a letter seen by THEWILL on Saturday, described the allegations as false, malicious, misleading and defamatory.
Demanding a retraction, the letter issued on his behalf by Okonjo, Odiawa & Ebie Legal Practitioners, is demanding the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira), for alleged “anxiety, trauma, loss of reputation, and damage your defamatory publication” caused.
The letter, addressed to the Managing Editor, Saturday Times, reads in part:
“DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OF DEFAMATORY PUBLICATION REGARDING MAJOR GENERAL BARRY NDIOMU (RTD), INTERIM ADMINISTRATOR OF THE PRESIDENTIAL AMNESTY PROGRAMME
“We are Solicitors to Major General Barry Ndiomu (our client) and on whose instruction we write to you in respect of the above captioned.
“Our client, who is currently the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (“the Programme”) has informed us that:
“1. He oversees the Programme, which is an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria set up to address the perennial issues of restiveness within the Niger Delta Region with its underlying implications for Nigeria’s national security.
“2. Amongst the Programme’s responsibilities is oversight and disbursement of monthly stipends to qualifying recipients, largely made up of restive youths and individuals, otherwise known as ex-agitators, in the Niger Delta Region as a means of securing critical national economic assets in the oil and gas sector and related persons in said sector and region.
“3. As Interim Administrator, he was primarily charged with superintending the Programme’s activities including, but not limited to the general administration of the agency, allocation and disbursement of the monthly stipends and payment of educational fees for qualified recipients/candidates.
“4. That on the 19th of August 2023, you caused to be emblazoned and published as your lead and front cover news item of your Saturday Times publication, a damaging and prejudicial article on our client titled:
“ROT IN PRESIDENTIAL AMNESTY PROGRAMME ANGERS STAKEHOLDERS”
“wherein you stated that:
“Strong allegations of fraud are rocking the Presidential Amnesty Office and the development has left many stakeholders angry, Sources in critical position in the office have raised the alarm over the alarming plundering of the office under its current leadership.
“By the literal meaning of the above words, which you have published and disseminated extensively worldwide and in Nigeria by print and vide your Website page accessible via the URLwww.dailytimesng.com.print and a host of other social media platforms and blogs to members of the public, knowing same to be patently false, baseless, reckless, untrue, malicious, misleading and defamatory of our client in every material respect to the extreme.
“Consequently, you not only portrayed our client as corrupt and morally bankrupt, you inferred and conveyed to said members of the public that our client is unfit for public office, and undeserving of the position he occupies.
“The effects of these wilful and malicious posts and publications, which clearly mention current leadership of the Programme, have in no small measure served to cause our client immeasurable public odium and opprobrium, leading to our client losing estimation not only as a retired and distinguished military officer but also in his current position as the Interim Administrator of the Programme before his associates, colleagues and all right thinking persons.
“In the circumstance therefore, we have our client’s firm instruction to demand that you forthwith IMMEDIATElY CEASE AND DESIST from publishing, disseminating, broadcasting the subject defamatory and false statements referenced as per the said publication of 19th of Aug’ust 2023 in any form and/or manner whatsoever.
“Additionally, that you immediately retract and cause to take down by the same measure with which they were published, the subject offensive and defamatory publication from the website hosted by you, as well as any other publication containing statements, which are identical or equivalent to the offending statements about our client and avail us with your unreserved, written public apology to our client, which must be prominently posted on your said website, your Saturday print publication as lead news story, two national dailies and all the social media platforms on which the publication was published, along with the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) for the anxiety, trauma, loss of reputation, and damage your defamatory publication caused our client.
“AND TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that should you fail to comply with our client’s demand within 7 days of your receipt of this letter, we have our client’s instructions to take out a writ against you and your organisation seeking relief for defamation as it concerns your malicious and unsubstantiated, defamatory statements.
“If proceedings become necessary, the remedies that may be available to our client (though not conclusive), include an injunction restraining further correspondence or publication of or containing the Offending statements (pending trial), damages in excess of N1,000,000,000,000.00 (One Billion Naira), legal costs and interest, amongst other reliefs.
“We trust in your objective consideration of all the foregoing.”
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