By Cecilia Ijuo
Senator Matthew Uroghide (PDP-Edo) has appealed to the executive to pay ex-militants the stipend due them.
Uroghide, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja, was reacting to protests by a group of ex-militants at the gate of the National Assembly earlier in the day.
Uroghide, a member of the Senate Committe on Niger Delta, said the problem was not within the purview of the National Assembly but the Executive.
According to him, the 2017 Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) budget has been passed by the national assembly,
“It is for money to be released for payment of their stipend.
”The Presidency should instruct the Minister of Finance to release money to the agency that is responsible for paying them, that is the Amnesty Office.
”We totally sympathise with them. We all know the circumstances surrounding the amnesty programme.
” If you disarm people and you are training them why will you not meet up the obligation of paying their stipend.
”The Minister of Finance should release their money to ensure that these people are paid as and when due.
A group of ex-militants had earlier in the day staged a peaceful protest at the National Assembly requesting that lawmakers intervene to get the executive to pay their stipend.