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Govt Raises Alarm Over Scholarship, Admission Scam

By Kanayo Umeh, Abuja
19 July 2015   |   9:40 am
The Federal Government has raised alarm over activities of some unscrupulous persons impersonating staffers of the Federal Scholarship Board to defraud scholarship applicants of huge sums of money. A syndicate is also said to be involved in admission racketeering into the Federal Government unity colleges. Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr. MacJohn Nwaobiala, who made…

The Federal Government has raised alarm over activities of some unscrupulous persons impersonating staffers of the Federal Scholarship Board to defraud scholarship applicants of huge sums of money.

A syndicate is also said to be involved in admission racketeering into the Federal Government unity colleges.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr. MacJohn Nwaobiala, who made this known at a news conference in Abuja, said government had launched investigation into the alleged scam, with a view to bringing perpetrators to justice.
He disclosed that his office had been inundated with complaints from victims of the fraudsters.

He alleged that some staff of Federal Scholarship Board might have connived with the syndicates, but warned that anyone indicted in the scam would not be spared.

Nwaobiala noted that the victims were made to pay as much as N119,000 to benefit from the Federal Government scholarship scheme.

“In recent time, it has come to the notice of the management of the Federal Ministry of Education that some fraudulent persons, who claim to be staff of Federal Scholarship Board, are contacting federal scholarship applicants/scholars via telephone calls and text messages, demanding payment of some amount of money into some particular bank accounts before their scholarships are processed and awarded.

“Similar reports have also been received on admissions into Federal Government unity colleges. The Ministry does not charge money to offer admission at any level.

“If a candidate is not selected under national merit, state equity or other criteria, there are no agents that would be paid to make the admission possible. Please be mindful of admission racketeers,” he said

Nwaobiala, however, said security operatives were already investigating the matter, noting that the police was already tracking the account numbers and telephone numbers of the syndicates involved.

He warned parents and students not to fall prey to the syndicates, adding that the Federal Scholarship Board processes three categories of award, namely: the Nigerian awards tenable in Nigerian tertiary institution, the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) received from countries with which Nigeria has bilateral education agreements and the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan awards made to Nigeria and reciprocal awards by Nigeria for postgraduate studies tenable in Commonwealth countries.

The permanent secretary disclosed that no payment of money is required throughout the entire process.

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