Boko Haram Amnesty: Best Decision At The Moment – PDP

[Shola Sholaz]

THE National leadership of the Peoples Party, PDP yesterday described the constitution of. an Amnesty Committee on the Boko Haram insurgency by President Goodluck Jonathan as the best decision at the moment just as the governors of Kastina and Jigawa states, Ibrahim Shema and Sule Lamido yesterday said the decision was in submission to the yearnings of northern leaders over the plight of the people in the region that should be commended.
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In a statement signed by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party while hailing the President for the action, stressed that it was yet another demonstration of his sincerity and forthrightness in handling the affairs of Nigeria, adding that it showed the President as a listening leader and one who has the unity of the country as paramount to him.
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''It is on record that the north is the most receptive region in the country. Indeed there is no part of the country that is more accommodating than the north which has always been home for all people, irrespective of religious creed and tribal affiliations.
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''The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) commends President Goodluck Jonathan for constituting an Amnesty Committee on the Boko Haram insurgency.
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This is yet another demonstration of the President's sincerity and forthrightness in handling national issues."
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Speaking with state House correspondents after meeting with President Jonathan, governors Lamido and  Shema said the decision was a step in ensuring that peace returns to the northern part of the country.
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According to the governor, of Katsina state,  "If a committee on amnesty is set up, it is done because Nigerians and leaders from the northern part of the country are yearning for a quick resolution to the matter. And the president is responding positively to this request so that our nation can go on in peace, progress and development".
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He said it is not true that northern governors did not do enough to check the activities of the sect noting that the governors had set up a committee on peace and reconciliation before now.
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"If you remember, the northern governors' forum did set up a special committee for peace, healing and reconciliation and that committee has been working very hard and is submitting its second report to the northern governors' forum and certainly all hands are on deck including traditional institutions, religious and political leaders, even from the services – military, retired, the police, SSS are all part of that committee", he added.