The Amnesty Office has insisted that the award of the N88million contract for the empowerment of Niger Delta youth in barbing and beauty salon business under the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), did not breach any legal conditions.
According to the Amnesty office, the contract, which was awarded to Messrs Tovo Vicks Nigeria Enterprises Limited, was part of efforts to provide skills for human capital development in line with its mandate.
A statement issued on Tuesday by Murphy Ganagana, Special Assistant (Media) to Professor Charles Dokubo,
Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, noted that the N88million contract sum for 22 beneficiaries was valued at N4million per beneficiary.
He broke down the cost as follows: 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; comprehensive documentation of empowered beneficiaries, among others.
The statement continued: “We wish to state that the contract was awarded in line with due process and the company, Tovo Vicks Nigeria Ent. Limited is duly registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, with RC 1150012.
“Therefore, Prof. Dokubo did no wrong by awarding the contract in furtherance of the mandate of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. However, it should be noted that the implementation of the contract is yet to commence.
“This clarification has become necessary in view of the post of a bromide of the contract award letter in the social media by mischief makers, thereby causing opprobrious remarks from undiscerning members of the public.
“Prof. Charles Dokubo will not be distracted by the antics of enemies of progress whose aggression to grab contracts at the Amnesty Programme and pocket funds meant for the training and empowerment of beneficiaries of the programme has been effectively checkmated. It is no longer business as usual.”
