…As Leaders Protest; PAP Budget Soars to ₦115 Billion, Yet Their Monthly Stipend Remains Stuck at ₦65,000

Tare has publicly condemned the current administration of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), accusing Administrator Dennis Otuaro of running the scheme on a “divide‑and‑rule” basis that sidelines bona‑fide first‑phase ex‑agitators and others who surrendered arms in 2009.

In an exposé, Tare says the programme has been effectively transformed into a “Gbaramatu Amnesty Programme,” alleging that roughly over 90 percent of those benefiting under Otuaro’s leadership come from Gbaramatu communities and their cronies. According to Tare, this pattern contradicts the PAP’s founding aim to promote equitable rehabilitation, reintegration and empowerment across the Niger Delta and risks rekindling grievances that the amnesty was designed to extinguish.

Tare’s report amplifies a formal petition dated 15 December 2025 from a coalition calling itself Concerned Niger Delta First‑Phase Ex‑Agitators Stakeholders, addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and copied to the nation’s security and legislative leadership. The petition, signed by prominent first‑phase leaders — including Gen. Don Alex Watchman, Gen. Jacob Brave Obecoma, Gen. Eferi Nyanaye Amakiri, Gen. Douglas Otokolo, Gen. Patrick Tebegha, Gen. Gilbert Isobo Tallest, Leader Monday Excel and Gen. Pius Wariyai — lists eleven specific grievances that collectively paint a picture of systematic exclusion.

Key complaints outlined in the petition:

*Denial of lawful entitlements and benefits for eligible first‑phase ex‑agitators without clear justification or transparency. 
 
*Withholding of empowerment opportunities and contracts, which petitioners say are being awarded to outsiders and non‑indigenes rather than bona‑fide beneficiaries. 
 
*Exclusion of experienced, recognized first‑phase leaders from leadership, coordination, orientation and reintegration roles despite their seniority and track records. 
 
*Failure to give preferential consideration to first‑phase beneficiaries in employment, contracts and empowerment initiatives, contrary to PAP principles.  

*Complete omission of first‑phase leaders from recent overseas (450 delegates) and local (750 slots) scholarship deployments.  

*Stagnant stipends: leaders and followers continue to receive ₦65,000 monthly despite a reported rise in the PAP budget from ₦65 billion to ₦115 billion; no stipend review or recognition of leadership responsibilities has been implemented.  

*Allegations that leadership appointments and benefits disproportionately favor persons linked to the Administrator’s ethnic or community background, particularly from Gbaramatu Kingdom.  

*An overarching charge of lack of transparency, equity and adherence to the PAP’s founding objectives.

The petition urges President Tinubu and relevant authorities to investigate the allegations, review and upwardly adjust stipends in line with the increased budget and current economic realities, ensure fairness and inclusiveness in PAP programmes, restore entitlements and dignity to ex‑agitators, and guarantee priority consideration for first‑phase leaders in contracts, training, leadership roles and scholarship schemes.

Tare frames these developments as more than administrative missteps: he warns they threaten the fragile peace and trust painstakingly built in the Niger Delta since the 2009 amnesty. He calls on federal authorities, civil society and the media to press for an independent audit of PAP allocations and selection processes, transparent redress for aggrieved first‑phase beneficiaries and others, and urgent corrective action to prevent renewed tensions in the region.

The petitioners copied their letter to the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defence Intelligence, Minister of Defence, Inspector‑General of Police, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief of Naval Staff and the Director‑General of the Department of State Services, seeking prompt and public responses to their demands.