Amnesty Office: Buhari's Wife Never Ordered Staff Sack

* Justifies N88m barbing salon contract

The Presidential Amnesty Office on Tuesday described as a fairy tale an online news report alleging that the wife of the president, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, recently asked the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator,  Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, to relieve some staff of their appointments over leaked documents of a contract scam.

The Office, which declared that contrary to the misleading report no staff was sacked,  also maintained that it breached no public procurement law in the award of N88 million contract for the empowerment of 22 Niger Delta youths in barbing and beauty salon business under the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

In a statement issued by Murphy Ganagana, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Special Adviser to the President and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Prof. Charles Dokubo, the Amnesty Office said  an online news portal had also alleged that Dokubo told some unnamed senior officials of the Amnesty Programme that he got a directive from Mrs. Buhari to sack some staff.G

Ganagana debunked the report as one devoid of any iota of truth, but concocted to achieve a mischievous and sinister motive.

The  first lady, the statement said, does not interfere in the affairs of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and at no time requested or directed Dokubo to sack any staff of the Amnesty Office.

He added that contrary to the report, no staff of the Presidential Amnesty Programme was sacked for any reason whatsoever, noting that there was no contract scam at the Amnesty Office. 

According to the statement, contrary to the online report, Dokubo was neither invited nor queried by the presidency over leaked deals or documents and did not get any directive to sack any staff of the Amnesty Office.

The latest missile fired at Prof. Dokubo and the Amnesty Programme is in reaction to a recent failed attempt which crumbled and missed its target following a lucid presentation of facts on the alleged N3.2 billion contract scam by the Amnesty Office to members of the public. "This has no doubt punctured the credibility of Pointblanknews, and like a wounded lion, it is splashing muddied water at Prof. Dokubo to smear him.

"We wish to reiterate that there is no contract scam in the Amnesty Programme and NO DIME was paid to the two companies as alleged by Pointblanknews, just as no staff has been sacked either on a directive by the First Lady or for any other reason whatsoever," the statement added.

In a related development, the Office insisted that it breached no public procurement law in the award of N88 million contract for the empowerment of 22 Niger Delta youths in barbing and beauty salon business under the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

The contract awarded to Messrs Tovo Vicks Nigeria Enterprises Limited, it said, it was in line with its mandate of providing human capital development and skills acquisition for beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme towards deepening peace and stability in the Niger Delta.

Ganagana said that the N88 million contract sum for 22 beneficiaries was based on a business set-up template of N4 million per beneficiary.

He explained that the cost includes provision of refresher/entrepreneurial training course to prepare beneficiaries for effective management of their businesses; land acquisition or shop rent for use by the beneficiaries, business name registration, tax papers, account opening and branding; provision of mentorship/monitoring and evaluation for three months after successful setup process for beneficiaries, and comprehensive documentation of empowered beneficiaries.