From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Presidential Amnesty Programme( PAP) has disclosed that the United Bank of Nigeria has accepted responsibility for delay in the payment of stipends to beneficiaries.
The Special Assistant, Media to the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr Igoniko Oduma in a press statement said the bank explained that glitches was responsible for the delay.
Oduma noted that the Programme Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro had to seek explanations from the bank following several complaints from beneficiaries.
According to him, the PAP office had already disbursed the funds from its accounts to the banks.
He assured that the office would collaborate with UBA to ensure the issue is resolved.
The statement reads in part: ” Following repeated complaints from beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) that they had not received their stipends for the month of March, one of our banks has explained the reason for the abnormal delay.
” In a letter to the Programme Administrator, Dennis Otuaro, PhD, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) explained that some delegates banking with it had not been paid due to glitches in the bank’s processing system.
” The bank, however, explained that it has processed the refund for the failed transactions into the beneficiary’s accounts.
“Due to complaints from some beneficiaries, the Amnesty Office had written to the bank seeking an explanation for the delay.
“The Amnesty Office had disbursed March stipends to all beneficiaries’ accounts and the funds had already left its accounts.
“The Office will collaborate with UBA to ensure that all outstanding payment issues are resolved.
The Office thanks all beneficiaries for their patience and display of patriotism in reacting to this unexpected development.”