19th June, 2023
Former Kano state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has stated that his administration spent over N20 billion on post graduate scholarship scheme in eight years.
Ganduje said this while reacting to the claim by the new Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) government in Kano that he did sponsor any student on foreign scholarship in his eight year administration in the state.
Ganduje who spoke through a statement signed by the immediate-past Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Malam Muhammad Garba, insisted that his administration spent over N20 billion on 111, 687 indigent students for overseas post graduate foreign scholarship in 14 countries, five private universities, the Nigerian Law School and other internal universities from June 2015 to March 2023.
He said the amount covered tuition fees, upkeep, accommodation, air ticket, among others, was earmarked for students of post graduate foreign scholarship in India, Malaysia, Egypt, Cyprus, China, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, Togo, Ireland, Gambia, Ukraine as well as internal universities.
Malam Garba said available records indicate that in addition to the above, the former administration also sponsored 50 lecturers from its two universities and other tertiary institutions for their doctorate degrees in French prestigious universities under a programme jointly carried out between the French and Kano state government.
The commissioner pointed out that over N600 million was also spent on the joint tuition-free post graduate scholarship between the state government and the French Embassy in Nigeria.
He said it was unfortunate that present government in the state was laying claims to the success of the foreign and local scholarship, while it left a burden of about $28 million and over N6 billion respectively, which the Ganduje administration had settled more than 80 per cent of it.
Malam Garba stated further that the post graduate students were sent in three batches to top-ranking universities in France and some European countries, mostly to study science related courses.
The commissioner further stated that the Ganduje administration re-introduced the payment of scholarship allowances to indigenous students attending Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions, which was completely abandoned by the Kwankwaso administration between 2011 and 2015.
He added under the scheme, the sum of N865.4 million was disbursed as scholarship allowances and provision of logistics for the payment exercise to indigenous students in the five Emirates across the 44 local governments of the state.
The commissioner said the former administration also review upward by 50 per cent scholarship allowances to the students.