Chief Wellington Bobo Backs Otuaro, Slams Arrest Threats Over ‘Baseless’ ₦26bn Probe By Wilson Macaulay,

 

 WARRI

Populist High Chief Wellington Bobo, the Oroupawei of Gbaramatu Kingdom, has thrown his weight behind the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Administrator, Dr. Dennis Burutu Otuaro, describing the House of Representatives’ threat to arrest him over a ₦26bn audit query as “baseless and politically motivated.”

In a statement released to the press and circulated among regional stakeholders, Chief Bobo described the arrest threat as “baseless, ill-timed, and dangerously provocative.”

Chief Bobo faulted the House Public Accounts Committee for summoning Otuaro over expenditures from 2020–2021, years before he assumed office in 2024. He said the move amounted to “a clear miscarriage of legislative oversight,” warning that such actions risk undermining stability in the Niger Delta.

He noted that attempts to intimidate the PAP boss were already drawing widespread condemnation from regional groups, including the Ijaw Youth Leaders of Thought and other civil society actors, who insist that the committee should instead invite those who held office during the period in question.

According to the Gbaramatu chief, accountability must not be turned into a weapon of political harassment. “Oversight is essential, but it must be fair, factual, and free of bias,” he said, urging the Reps Committee to “summon the proper custodians of the accounts” rather than target an administrator working hard to clean up the system.

Responding to the ultimatum, Chief Bobo stressed that while accountability is essential, the process must be fair, factual, and free from political coloration. “We support robust oversight, but oversight must not be weaponised for settling scores or sabotaging institutions critical to national peace,” he said, urging lawmakers to direct their inquiries to those who managed PAP finances during the period in question.

Chief Bobo also cautioned lawmakers to avoid actions capable of threatening the fragile peace secured through the Amnesty Programme, which he described as “central to national stability.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Otuaro’s office has reaffirmed his readiness to cooperate with any lawful probe, even as observers call for a more focused and evidence-led approach to the audit, while the PAP office continues to maintain calm.

He noted that the funds under probe allegedly relate to activities of the PAP in 2020–2021, a period long before Dr. Otuaro assumed office in 2024. “To summon and threaten a man for accounts from periods before he held office is a miscarriage of legislative oversight,” he said.

Chief Bobo’s remarks align with a growing chorus of voices from the Niger Delta urging the National Assembly to exercise greater care and precision in its oversight responsibilities. Civil society groups, community leaders, and youth organisations — including the Ijaw Youth Leaders of Thought — have criticised both the timing and the tone of the committee’s actions. Many warn that deliberately targeting the PAP Administrator risks jeopardising hard-won peace and stability in the region and have instead called for lawmakers to summon those who actually held office in the years under review.

He added that the peace Nigeria is enjoying today in the Niger Delta is based on the handwork of critical stakeholders like High Chief Tompolo of Tantita security services which should not be taken as a tool box.

He warned the Law makers to look critically into issues without bias before launching attack on innocent and hard working people like Chief DR Dennis

 Otuaro  who is producing positive result across board.