Ganduje calls Kwankwaso’s overseas scholarship scheme a scam

In what is fast turning into a war of words in Kano State, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has condemned his predecessor’s overseas scholarship, labeling it a scam orchestrated between the former regime and some contractors.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Director General, Media and Communication, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, yesterday, at Government House, Kano.

According to the release, the governor made this assertion while receiving the new executives of National Association of Kano State Students, (NAKSS) who visited him at his office, lamenting that such arrangements were fraudulent and unacceptable to his administration.

He explained that his administration is determined to regularise the states’ scholarship process so that the students continue with their academic endeavors conveniently.

The governor claimed that instead of following due process to secure admissions for the students, the former administration engaged the services of what he called “a contractor”, who collected money improperly from both the government and the institutions, turning the whole admission exercise into a joke.

“When they want to pay the bursaries or school fees of the students, they give the contractor, who in turn takes his share before remitting the money to the students or school”, Ganduje lamented.

He stated that his government inherited a huge liability of unpaid scholarships for students in foreign universities, pointing out that although effort was made to settle some of the debt, about N3 billion was still being owed.

On Northwest University, also initiated by the past administration, the governor noted that the project has been stalled for two years, before he assumed office, highlighting that his administration has since asked the contractor to return to site.