The presidency plans to spend N35 billion on Niger Delta ex-militants in 2013, going by budget estimates presented to the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta yesterday.
According to the special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on amnesty programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, the budgeted sum is for skills acquisition and vocational training leading to reintegration of the ex-agitators enrolled in the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
Kuku stated that 63 per cent of this sum will go to servicing ongoing commitments while the balance, that is, 37 per cent, will be expended on placing 3,000 transformed ex-agitators in either formal education or vocational training in the fiscal year 2013.
“The budgetary figure for the placements of the estimated 3,000 ex-combatants in re-integration centres is based on the profile from the career/professional counseling and re-integration classification sessions of the transformational training.
“66 per cent or 1,980 of the 3,000 ex-combatants have opted for vocational training. It is estimated that local training centres will be able to absorb 1,000 participants. The balance of 980 ex-agitators will be trained offshore,” he said.
The chairman, House Committee on Niger Delta, Warman Ogoriba (Bayelsa, PDP), who picked holes in the budget estimates, said the committee would set up a sub-committee to review the proposal of the Amnesty office.
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