President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the suspension of the coordinator of the presidential amnesty programme, Charles Dokubo.
A statement on Friday night from Mr Buhari’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said Mr Dokubo’s suspension followed numerous allegations and petitions.
A caretaker committee would be set up to run the programme, the statement said.
Mr Dokubo, a professor of strategic studies from Rivers State, was appointed in 2018 to lead the amnesty programme in the Nigeria’s troubled Niger Delta after his predecessor, Paul Boroh, was sacked over corruption allegations.
Read Femi Adesina‘s full statement below:
PRESIDENT BUHARI APPROVES SUSPENSION OF THE COORDINATOR OF AMNESTY PROGRAMME
Following numerous allegations and petitions surrounding the Presidential Amnesty Programme, the National Security Adviser (NSA) set up a Caretaker Committee to look into the activities of the programme, on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Part of the Committee’s task is to ensure that allocated resources are properly utilized in consonance with government’s objective of alleviating problems in the Niger Delta region and stamping out corruption in the Amnesty Programme.
Consequently, the NSA recommend to Mr President that the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Professor Charles Quaker Dokubo be suspended, a recommendation that has been approved and which takes immediate effect.
The President has also directed that the Caretaker Committee set up to review the program should oversee the running of the programme henceforth, with a view to ensuring that government objectives are achieved.
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)
February 28,2020
