Ganduje spent over N20bn on PG foreign scholarships in eight years – Ex-Commissioner

According to a former commissioner, from June 2015 to March 2023, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the immediate past governor of Kano State, spent over N20 billion on 111,687 needy students for overseas post-graduate scholarships in 14 countries, five private universities, the Nigerian Law School, and other internal universities.

When the New Nigeria Peoples Party falsely claimed that Ganduje did not fund foreign scholarships during his two terms as governor, the former commissioner for information and internal affairs in Ganduje’s administration, Muhammad Garba, revealed this in a statement made available to The PUNCH.

According to him, the money was designated for post-graduate scholarship recipients in India, Malaysia, Egypt, Cyprus, China, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom, Togo, Ireland, Gambia, and Ukraine, as well as internal universities, and it was intended to cover expenses such as tuition, maintenance, housing, and air travel, among other things.

According to Garba, the records that are currently in hand show that, in addition to the aforementioned, the previous administration also sponsored 50 lecturers from Kano State’s two universities and other tertiary institutions to pursue their doctorates at esteemed French universities as part of a joint initiative between the French and Kano State governments.

The commissioner also noted that more than N600 million was spent on the joint tuition-free postgraduate scholarship between the state government and the French Embassy in Nigeria.

Therefore, he said that it was unfortunate that the state’s current administration was claiming credit for the achievements of both local and foreign scholarship.

In addition, he stated that the Ganduje administration had settled more than 80% of the $28 million and over N6 billion debt left by the Rabiu Kwankwaso administration.

In addition, Garba claimed that the post-graduate students were sent in three groups to prestigious universities in France and other European nations, primarily to pursue studies in the sciences.

The commissioner also noted that between 2011 and 2015, the Kwankwaso administration completely discontinued the payment of scholarship allowances to indigenous students enrolled in Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions. This practice was reinstated by the Ganduje-led administration.