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Tag: Milland Dixon Dikio

  • Dikio supports war against illegal refineries in Niger Delta

    Dikio supports war against illegal refineries in Niger Delta

    The Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), says he supports the war against illegal refineries across the Niger Delta region.

    A statement issued on Sunday by Mr Nneotabase Egbe, Special Adviser on Media to Dikio, quoted him as giving his endorsement at the weekend in Port Harcourt while speaking at the 50th anniversary dinner and award night of the Port Harcourt Polo Club.

    Dikio applauded the move by Gov Nyesom Wike for leading the efforts to stamp out illegal refineries in Rivers, saying that Wike’s efforts should be complemented by all stakeholders in the region.

    He said illegal refineries were not the only cause of the environmental devastation in the region, insisting that other harmful practices were also responsible for polluting the environment.

    “I commend the Rivers State Governor, Wike, for taking on the issue of illegal oil refineries also known as kpofire head on.

    “But, a lot of work still needs to be done. Kpofire is not the only pollutant and so individually and collectively what are we doing, especially the corporate entities to reduce unwanted emissions into our environment”? Dikio asked.

    Dikio, also urged the people of the Niger Delta to stop bickering over the percentage in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), saying that opportunities would be created for future negotiation.

    “I will say that instead of quarrelling about the percentage, we should be talking about what to do with the percentage we got, build on it and we can have another discussion after that”, Dikio said.

    While reinforcing the PAP’s Train, Employ and Mentor (TEM) model, Dikio said in the next 10 years, the Niger Delta should have a critical mass that would make people of the region competitive in all spheres.

    He said: “We’re looking for partnership with businesses that can train these ex-agitators and give them the required skills for employment in their businesses.

    “We in PAP will pay for the training. It is a partnership because we want those who train them to guarantee that they will employ them.

    “We are doing this as a departure from the old model which only trained people and put them back in the bloated unemployment market. We feel that is a waste of money and everybody’s time. It also increases the anxiety level in the economy and the polity”.

    Earlier, the Chief Host, King Alfred Diette-Spiff, said the game of Polo was catching up in the South-South noting that contrary to what many people thought, Polo was no longer an elite game.

    On his part, President of the Port Harcourt Polo Club, Mr. Chukwudi Dimkpa said that from its humble beginning in 1972,the club had grown to become the preferred Polo club in Nigeria and Africa.

    The highpoint of the event was the presentation of awards and the launch and fund raising for the Arena Polo Turf and Children Riding School.

  • Buhari renews Dikio’s appointment as interim administrator of Amnesty Programme

    Buhari renews Dikio’s appointment as interim administrator of Amnesty Programme

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the renewal of appointment of retired Col. M. D. Dikio as Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for another one-year tenure.

    President Buhari approved the appointment of Dikio as Interim Administrator (Amnesty Programme) with effect from Aug. 21, 2020.

    This followed the President’s approval of the disengagement of Prof. Charles Dokubo from Office as the Coordinator, Amnesty Programme with immediate effect.

    Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

    According to Adesina, inspite of the challenges, Dikio has been able to command widespread respect amongst the various stakeholders in the Niger Delta.

  • Investigation: Presidential amnesty payroll padded with duplicated names

    Investigation: Presidential amnesty payroll padded with duplicated names

    Investigations have revealed that the payroll of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for reformed Niger Delta militants is padded with duplicated names.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the presidential amnesty payroll is padded with 400 duplicated names as revealed by Mr Nneotabase Egbe, Special Adviser on Media to the Interim Administrator of PAP, Col. Milland Dikio (rtd).

    Recall that repentant militants from the Niger Delta voluntarily surrendered their weapons to the Federal Government in 2009.

    Arms and ammunition from over 29,000 ex-militants were recovered, and essential information on the background and stations of the disarmed ex-militants were collected.

    TNG reports the ex-militants were then counseled, trained, documented and were enrolled into the programme.

    According to Mr Egbe, the programme has been undergoing reforms in the last one year after Dikio took over the helm of affairs.

    He said the reform is already yielding fruits.

    He further stated that efforts are being intensified to discover the identities of persons receiving monies through the identified fake accounts.

    “The irregularities noticed a year ago led to the investigation and verification of the 30,000 accounts receiving the N65,000 each monthly stipends.

    “The scrutiny has so far revealed that some of the accounts were fake and fraudulently used to siphon funds meant for original ex-agitators.

    “Immediately the investigation commenced, the amnesty office stopped the stipends of the accounts undergoing probe. It was the right thing to do.

    “I can tell you that some of the accounts had been cleared and their owners will soon receive their stipends.

    “But efforts are being intensified to discover the identities of persons receiving monies through identified fake accounts,” Egbe said.

    TNG reports that with the revelation, the FG has lost over N3.4 billion to the ghost names on the payroll of the PAP.

    However, Egbe said the PAP under Dikio was determined to cleanse the system to ensure that amnesty’s resources were expended on real and verifiable ex-agitators and not on impostors.

    “Investigations also revealed that some contractors of the PAP office were not delivering their jobs in accordance with their terms of contracts,” he said.

    TNG reports Egbe maintained that Dikio was determined to cleanse the system.

  • Massive fraud uncovered in Presidential Amnesty Programme

    Massive fraud uncovered in Presidential Amnesty Programme

    A massive fraud has been uncovered in the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), interim administrator of the programme, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd) has said.

    Dikio made this known in a statement on Monday, with a vow to prosecute everyone involved, after investigation.

    In the statement, Dikio said his office is investigating the fraud to determine how widespread and the extent of involvement or connivance with internal elements within the programme.

    “While this investigation is ongoing, it will not stop the payment of those whose contracts and documents have been verified and reconciled as soon as the expected funds are released.

    “It will be recalled that before the close of the year 2020, the Presidential Amnesty Programme had sequentially paid a minimum of 104 contractors that had hitherto been owed.

    “This process will continue until everyone is paid what they are owed, subject to the availability of funds.

    “It must be noted that while the continuing process is evidence of the PAP’s commitment to its mandate which covers the delegates, the investigations will continue to ascertain the issues that gave rise to this allegation.

    “Meanwhile vendors/contractors whose contracts have not been revalidated, have not received an approval to self-fund or been mobilized for their respective contracts are advised to suspend and maintain the status quo,” Dikio stated.

  • FG restructures Presidential Amnesty Programme – Dixon-Dikio

    The Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon-Dikio (rtd.) has said the programme has been restructured to positively impact on the socio-economic lives of the people of the Niger Delta region.

    Dixon-Dikio disclosed this while briefing journalists shortly after a closed door meeting with the Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa at Government House, Asaba.

    He said the policy thrust of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was to take the programme back to the people of the region.

    He disclosed that his visit to the Government House, Asaba, was to brief the Governor on the programme and projections of the federal government towards addressing issues relating to its amnesty programme.

    “My mission in Delta is to brief the Governor on the vision of taking the programme (Presidential Amnesty Programme) back to the Niger Delta Region.

    “The programme that I administer is a DDR programme, meaning disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration. However, there is a larger conversation to be heard about the amnesty package and that is not my remit,” – Dixon-Diko said.

    The Interim Administrator stated further that the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) policy of the federal government would receive a boost in his tenure and sued for the support of all in the actualisation of set goals.

    According to him, payment of bursary to students from the Niger Delta Region in tertiary institutions both at home and abroad would be sustained as well as other legitimate demands that would strengthen peace and sustainable development in the region.

    He affirmed that his tenure would ensure that all lapses in the past were effectively handled to the satisfaction of everybody in the region.

    Speaking on the alleged exclusion of some persons from the amnesty programme, which led to protest, he said protest at the drop of a heart was not the way to go, adding that there are better ways of addressing grievances .

    “As a region, we have to be clear that protests upon protests have a very negative impact on the economy of the region and so, our appeal is that the people who protest must be very conversant with the effect of their protest on the overall economy of the region.

    “For instance, a lot of them are talking about payment of allowances but some of these allowances are not even documented. They talked about housing allowance that was not envisaged to be a long term thing.

    “There are other legitimate demands which I am looking into. One of the issues on the front burner has to do with regular payment of stipends.

    “For the past two months, we have been paying the stipends to students from the Niger Delta region in tertiary institutions both at home and abroad,” he said.

  • Amnesty boss meets Ateke Tom, Tompolo, Boyloaf, two other ex-militant leaders

    Amnesty boss meets Ateke Tom, Tompolo, Boyloaf, two other ex-militant leaders

    The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (retd) has held a crucial meeting with five prominent former militant leaders in the Niger Delta famously referred to as the Big Five.

    It was gathered that the former five commanders of the defunct Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) who met with Dikio were the Amayanabo of Okochiri in Okirika, Rivers State, King Ateke Tom; Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo; Victor Ben Ebikabowei aka Boyloaf and High Chief Ajube Bibopiri popularly called Shoot-at-Sight.

    It was learnt that though Tompolo was not present at the meeting, he sent a representative.

    It was further gathered that the meeting, which was called at the instance of Dikio, held at the palace of Ateke Tom in Okochiri on Friday.

    A source, who attended the parley, said it was designed to find lasting solutions to emerging threats to the fragile peace in the region.

    The source, who spoke in confidence and described the meeting as strategic, said the amnesty boss intimated the former creek warlords about the reforms in the amnesty office and the new direction of the programme.

    He said Dikio reeled out the reasons for the failures of the scheme in the past and solicited their cooperation to realise the main objectives of PAP.

    He added that the amnesty boss emphasised the need to deepen the peace in the Niger Delta and tackle all the threats in the region insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Security Adviser (NSA) desired an optimum performance for PAP.

    “Dikio was more particular about sustaining peace in the region. He insisted that without peace the region would not develop and called on the Big Five to help in deepening the existing peace and eliminating all the threats in the region. It was a fruitful deliberation that strengthened the bond of brotherhood for the overall good of the Niger Delta.”

    He further quoted the amnesty boss as saying: “This meeting is for us to sit down together in a friendly atmosphere and have a heart to heart discussion on the past, present and the future of the PAP.”

    The source said after the general meeting, Dikio met behind closed doors with the former militant “generals” and later had dinner with them.

    One of the pioneers of PAP, Richard Akinika, confirmed the meeting and commended Dikio for consulting critical stakeholders describing it as a step in the right direction.

    He said the previous two administrators failed woefully because they refused to undertake the first step of consulting the owners of the programme.

    Akinika said: “The meeting was a familiarity visit. PAP is about the leaders, who came out boldly and submitted their arms. The previous two administrators after Kingsley Kuku failed woefully which informed suspensions, investigations and led to the emergence of this sole administration.

    “For me as a pioneer of that programme what the man has done is the right thing. When you come to somewhere you need to meet with the people, who own the programme, seek their opinion and sound them out on what their expectations are and it will inform your starting point.

    “The man has started well. He is a Niger Delta man; a retired colonel and one, who has run such programme outside the country. What he has done is a good step. This is what others failed to do that made them fail.

    “If you don’t have the support of the owners of the project, it will derail. It was an opportunity for the leaders to meet themselves. Boyloaf, Shoot-at-Sight and King Ateke Tom. It was like the old days and the need for them to work together.”