There is tension in the office of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) following the continual leakage of classified documents to members of the public.

It was gathered that the recent leakage of secret correspondences between the Interim Administrator, PAP, Maj.-Gen. Barry Ndiomu (rtd) and the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) unsettled the Amnesty Office and the All Progressives Congress (APC) family in Bayelsa State.

Investigations revealed that the SGF’s office had through a secret letter directed to Ndiomu sought to know the amnesty status of a former militant commander, Joshua Macaiver, who is the running mate to the governorship candidate of the APC in the November 11 Bayelsa election, Chief Timipre Sylva.

Part of the letter dated July 7 and signed by the Permanent Secretary in SGF’s office, Dr. Nnamdi Mbaeri, said: “I am directed to confirm the status of an application made on behalf of Mr. Joshua Macaiver of Bayelsa State for issuance of a letter of confirmation of unconditional pardon granted him by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2003.”

But while confidentially and swiftly responding to the letter, Ndiomu in his reply dated July 7 told the SGF that the name Joshua Macaiver was not in the documented list of the amnesty beneficiaries.

Ndiomu said in part: “I wish to state that there is no record in the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) to show that the same Joshua Macaiver of Bayelsa is a beneficiary of the PAP. His name did not appear in the data bank of PAP either as an ex-agitator or delegate nor do we have his name connected to any of the camps registered in PAP.

“Consequently, we cannot confirm if an unconditional pardon was granted to Mr. Joshua Macaiver by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.”

Sources close to the amnesty office confirmed that even before the response of Ndiomu got to the SGF’s office, the social media were awash with the two letters, which were boldly written “confidential.”

The public disclosure of the secret letters was said to have embarrassed the system and pitted Ndiomu against the Bayelsa State APC stalwarts, who viewed the development as justifying their suspicion that the amnesty boss, who hails from Bayelsa, was working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate for the election, Governor Douye Diri.

It was also found that the claim that Macaiver, who was said to be the first to lead his boys out of the creeks to embrace the amnesty, was not in the PAP data bank infuriated the ranks of ex-militant commanders.

Already, various APC stakeholders had called on the Federal Government to remove Ndiomu, whom they accused of having a partisan interest in the forthcoming governorship poll.

Their anger was borne out of the fact that Maicaver was one of the first phase commanders to have led over 250 of his boys out of the creeks and as one of the Big Five participated in the entire amnesty process.

Party stakeholders under the auspices of the Bayelsa APC Integrity Forum (BAIF) specifically accused the amnesty boss of deploying his office to work for the reelection of the Bayelsa Governor and PDP Candidate, Douye Diri.

The Chairman of the forum, Ebiye Appah, in a statement wondered how an official and confidential correspondence between him and the office of the SGF was deliberately leaked to the Bayelsa State Government House and other PDP members in the state.

“Ndiomu’s failed action is targeted at casting aspersion at the Sylva/Maicaver governorship ticket to cause tension in the APC and give undue advantage to his friend, Diri and his party, the PDP,” Adomokeme said.

He challenged Ndiomu to deny supporting the presidential candidate of the PDP in the last election, Alh. Atiku Abubakar, and empowering card-carrying members of the PDP in his anti-APC campaign in Bayelsa and Niger Delta.

Appah said: “We wonder also why confidential mail communication between his office and the office of the Secretary to the Government of The Federation would be deliberately leaked and made the subject of pedestrian deliberations.

“We are calling for the immediate removal, prosecution and arrest of Ndiomu for leaking official government communication and for turning the noble PAP into a mere empowerment scheme of the PDP.”

The Supreme Egbesu Order (SEO), the Ijaw religious organisation, also lambasted Ndiomu (rtd), accusing him of having partisan interests in the PDP) and Governor Douye Diri.

The Chief Superintending Officer, SEO, Apostle Bodmas Kemepadei asked the interim administrator to explain how a confidential and official correspondence between him and the office of the SGF was leaked to members of the public.

Kemepadei, who attached the leaked documents, wondered why Ndiomu while responding to the SGF’s letter claimed that Macaiver’s name was not among those granted amnesty by late former President Yar’Adua.

Describing the act of leaking confidential documents by public office holders as treasonable, Kemepadei called on the Presidency to direct the Department of State Security (DSS) to investigate the development.

He also appealed to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to probe the activities of Ndiomu in the amnesty office, especially the allegations that he had deployed the advantage of his office to help his friend, Douye Diri, defeat the APC in Bayelsa.

But it was gathered that Ndiomu was as bewildered as the APC bigwigs accusing him of leaking the confidential documents.

Sources from the office said Ndiomu was already carrying out an in-house investigation into how the documents became a subject of public debate.

It was learnt that all members of staff of the amnesty office were subjected to a thorough search with the mobile phone confiscated momentarily by security personnel.

A recent memo addressed to the staff showed that Ndiomu was unhappy with the development and had issued directives to check staff excesses.

A memo dated July 12, signed by AE Amangele and titled, ‘Information/Document Security Notice,’ directed that all members of staff must be searched before entering and exiting the office.

The memo further directed all staff members to drop their mobile phones at the gate before coming into the amnesty office complex.

The memo, while condemning the recent act, said: “It had come to the attention of the interim administrator that despite all efforts to enlighten PAP staff that this office is a national security programme and bound by strict document security and information protocol, some staff have lent themselves to breach these measures.

“There was a leakage of classified official documents on social media in clear violation of Official Secret Act 2004 and Oath of Secrecy Sworn by the staff of the programme.”

But ex-agitators defended Ndiomu and called on Bayelsa APC stakeholders to count him out of the politics for the forthcoming governorship poll.

The Coalition of Ex-agitators in Niger Delta (CEND) in a statement condemned viral reports from some interest groups linking Ndiomu to partisanship in the state.

CEND in the statement signed by its Coordinator, Gershom Mpaka Gbobo, said Ndiomu understood perfectly the functions of his office and was too busy to dabble into politics in his home state.

Contrary to the reports, Gbobo said Ndiomu had no political relationship with Governor Diri, his predecessor, Senator Seriake Dickson and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Gbobo averred that it was preposterous for anybody to accuse Ndiomu of leaking confidential documents to members of the public adding that if such an act truly happened within the amnesty office, the civil servants should be held responsible.

He said: “We want to state categorically that the presidential amnesty office is not a political office. It is a security office. In fact, the Ndiomu we know perfectly understands the functions of his office and has been discharging them diligently. The amnesty boss is too busy to engage in politics.

“We are also worried like others that confidential documents and correspondence between the Amnesty Office and the office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) in respect of the amnesty status of one of our leaders, Joshua Macaiver, were leaked to members of the public.

“But we state without any fear of contradiction that Gen. Ndiomu (retd) cannot be blamed for such development. Nobody has established the source of the leakage whether it is from the amnesty office or the office of the SGF. Even if it is from the amnesty office, only civil servants, who handle such correspondences should be held responsible for it.

“We have consistently warned against flooding the amnesty office, which is designed as a security programme, with civil servants because most of them are corrupt and could do anything with money”.

Gbobo, however, called on Ndiomu to set up a panel to investigate the source of the leakage and persons behind it with the aim of punishing defaulters.

“We want to call on members of the public especially stakeholders of PAP to discountenance the allegation of Ndiomu’s partisanship because there is no iota of truth in it”. (The Nation)

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