DR. OTUARO VOLUNTEER MEDIA TEAM DISMISSES LOOTING CLAIMS AGAINST THE PAP BOSS, CHIEF DR. DENNIS OTUARO; WARNS AUTHORS OF DEFAMATORY POSTS

DR. OTUARO VOLUNTEER MEDIA TEAM DISMISSES LOOTING CLAIMS AGAINST THE PAP BOSS, CHIEF DR. DENNIS OTUARO; WARNS AUTHORS OF DEFAMATORY POSTS

The attention of the Dr. Dennis Otuaro Volunteer Media Team has been drawn to a post circulating on Facebook, headlined "Otuaro is looting Amnesty Beneficiaries to do politics and scam education." The Team, acting on behalf of the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr.

Dennis Otuaro, dismisses the post in its entirety as false, malicious and designed to injure a public servant's good name. It carries no figure, no document, no named transaction and no witness.

It is an accusation dressed up as a headline.

We wish to remind the author, and anyone minded to repeat the claim, of a rule as old as fair dealing itself: he who alleges must prove. Calling a public officer a looter is not an opinion.

It is a statement of fact about criminal conduct, and whoever makes it takes on the burden of establishing it. A person who cannot say what was taken, when, by what instrument and from whom has not made an allegation.

He has made noise. The Team challenges the author to state the specific facts behind the charge, and the public should note that none has been offered.

The claim that Dr. Otuaro "scams education" is the most reckless part of the post, because it collides with the plainest record in the programme.

In-country scholarship deployment rose from 3,800 in the 2024/2025 academic year to 3,900 in 2025/2026, with about 200 foreign scholarships alongside. The 2024/2025 deployment itself was raised from an initial 1,700 to 2,500 beneficiaries after the Administrator insisted on a transparent process.

Education under Dr. Otuaro is not a slogan.

It is a measurable expansion of opportunity for the children of the Niger Delta.

The offshore record is equally concrete and verifiable. In 2026 alone, 243 postgraduate scholars have been deployed to universities in the United Kingdom, following earlier batches of 93 in January and May and the latest group of 150, whose members have been departing for the UK since September 18.

They are pursuing master's degrees in cybersecurity, software engineering, oil and gas engineering, law, forensic audit, global public health and data science. Sixteen earlier offshore scholars have already completed their master's degrees, four with distinctions.

A scheme that produces graduates, with distinctions, is not a scam. It is delivery.

The Volunteer Media Team states categorically that Dr. Otuaro's administration has recorded the strongest advancement of the core mission of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, which is the rehabilitation and reintegration of the people of the Niger Delta, particularly in education and skills.

Beyond scholarships, the programme has trained four pilot cadets and two instrument-rating trainees in South Africa, 40 aviation cadets in Lagos and 98 maritime cadets in Delta State. In January 2026, it distributed 900 laptops to scholarship students in Nigerian universities.

It has also trained 360 delegates from the three phases of the programme in alternative dispute resolution and mediation. These are the tools of reintegration, and they have never before been deployed on this scale.

The allegation that the Administrator is "looting beneficiaries" to "do politics" is contradicted by his own public conduct. In August 2025, Dr.

Otuaro warned ex-agitators against desperate politicians seeking to use them against the federal government ahead of the 2027 elections. The recognised leaders of Phases One, Two and Three have affirmed their loyalty to the programme, and the Akwa Ibom ex-agitators' forum has passed a vote of confidence in him.

Stipends continue to be paid, with disbursement records showing at least ₦88.79 billion in monthly stipends between 2018 and mid-2026, including approved payments for March, April and May 2026. A man who is looting beneficiaries does not pay them on schedule and expand their children's access to universities.

We hereby state that the Administrator will not be browbeaten, and that his name will not be left to the mercy of anonymous keyboards. Publishing a damaging falsehood about a named person is not free expression.

It is defamation, and it carries civil consequences and, where online publication is involved, possible liability under the laws governing communication on the internet. Truth is a defence, but the burden of proving it rests on the person who publishes.

Those who cannot prove what they say should expect to answer for it. The Team reserves the right to take all lawful steps to protect the Administrator and the programme, and it is monitoring the post, its authors and those who amplify it.

We therefore call on the author and all associated pages and persons to desist from derogatory posts and baseless accusations against Dr. Otuaro, and to delete the post.

We urge the media and bloggers to test every claim against the verifiable record before giving it a platform, also calling on the general public to disregard the post as the unproven allegation it is. The progress of the Presidential Amnesty Programme under Dr.

Otuaro, whom President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed in March 2024, is documented, ongoing and growing, and no unsupported headline can undo it.