The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) says it has not cancelled its scholarship scheme.

The PAP stated that the scholarship was only suspended due to financial contraints ocassioned by the debt profile of the programme.

It made this known via a statement issued by its spokesperson, Freston Akpor, on Friday.

The statement read: “The attention of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has been drawn to contents trending on various social media platforms with a rumored outright cancellation of the scholarship scheme.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the PAP had not at any time announced the cancellation of the ongoing scholarship scheme to eligible beneficiaries.

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“According to an official statement issued by the PAP on 06/01/2023 which clearly emphasized that the Presidential Amnesty Programme scholarship scheme has temporarily been placed on hold due to financial contraints ocassioned by the huge debt profile associated with the Formal Education component of the programme.

“Evidently, the recent award of scholarships (not by the present management) were done without recourse to proper budgetary considerations and efficient financial planning thus having an adverse effect on PAP’s current budgetary needs.

“It will therefore defy any logical reasoning on the part of the office to commence award of fresh scholarships without adequately restructuring of its current debts and effectively planing with available resources vis-a-vis intended new programs.

“The PAP under its current leadership recognizes and acknowledges the importance of education and capacity building to the growth and development of the Niger Delta and will therefore not relent in doing everything possible to ensure that formal opportunities are made available to beneficiaries of the Programme,” the PAP stated.

The Star