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

An ex-commissioner claims that from June 2015 to March 2023, the administration of the outgoing governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, spent more than N20 billion on 111,687 needy students for post-graduate scholarships abroad in 14 different nations, five private universities, the Nigerian Law School, and other internal universities.

This information was provided in a statement from Muhammad Garba, the former commissioner for information and internal affairs in Ganduje’s administration, in response to a false claim made by the New Nigeria Peoples Party that Ganduje did not fund foreign scholarships during his two terms in office.

He claimed that it was intended for post-graduate scholars in India, Malaysia, Egypt, Cyprus, China, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom, Togo, Ireland, Gambia, and Ukraine, as well as students at domestic universities, and that it paid for tuition, maintenance, housing, and other costs.

According to Garba, the records that are currently in hand show that, in addition to the aforementioned, the previous administration also funded 50 lecturers from Kano State’s two universities and other tertiary institutions as they pursued doctorates at renowned French universities through a joint initiative between the French and Kano State governments.

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

In light of this, he said it was unfortunate that the state’s current administration was claiming credit for both international and domestic scholarship.

The Rabiu Kwankwaso administration left behind a debt of about $28 million and more than N6 billion, of which the Ganduje administration had settled more than 80%, he continued.

Additionally, according to Garba, the post-graduate students were sent in three batches to prestigious universities in France and other European nations to study science-related courses.

The commissioner also pointed out that the Kwankwaso administration completely discontinued the payment of scholarship allowances to indigenous students enrolled in Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions between 2011 and 2015, but that the Ganduje-led administration has since reinstated this practice.