We are verifying claims of foreign scholarship beneficiaries, says NDDC

Last updated: 2020/09/18 at 3:20 PM

starconnect Published 18 September 2020

NDDC Acting Executive Director Projects, EDP, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh

Tells students to avoid being used by those against forensic audit

Admin l Friday, September 18, 2020

PORT HARCOURT, Rivers, Nigeria – The Management of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC has made clarifications on the recent protest of students, who claimed to be beneficiaries of the Commission’s 2018 scholarship programme at the Nigerian Embassy in London.

Director Corporate Affairs, Mr. Charles Obi Odili said in a statement that the protest was driven by mischief, otherwise the students would have presented their case to the NDDC Acting Executive Director Projects, EDP, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, who was in London on Thursday, September 17, 2020, with relevant officers of the Commission, to carry out physical verification of legitimate students on the scholarship programme.

According to him, the NDDC team was scheduled to verify the unexplained discrepancies in the Commission’s foreign postgraduate scholarship programme and ascertain the true beneficiaries.

“Their brief included visiting the universities where the students are enrolled for various post-graduate degree programmes”, he explained.

Recall that recently, the NDDC Interim Management Committee, IMC, released $5,910,000 million through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to offset all the verified outstanding foreign scholarship obligations, despite the non-passage of NDDC 2020 budget by the National Assembly.

“Curiously, after this payment, a demand for an additional payment of $3million (Three Million Dollars) surfaced, with the claim that some students were not captured”, he said, adding that the inexplicable increase made it imperative to verify and authenticate the real beneficiaries of the scholarship programme which started in 2010.

“We call attention to the fact that since the establishment of the IMC, no scholarship has been awarded. So why are we being blackmailed to make these additional payments, without verification?”, he queried.

He said the NDDC is committed to the Post Graduate Foreign scholarship Scheme, recognizing that it represents the future manpower and professionals the commission is building to help transform the Niger Delta region.

“We have always said that beyond physical infrastructure, the NDDC, as an interventionist agency, has a duty to also develop the human capital that will ensure sustainable livelihoods to the people of the Niger Delta region.

“We, therefore, urge our scholars not to allow themselves to be used as tools by those sponsoring devious campaigns to discredit the on-going forensic audit ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari”, the image maker of the NDDC said and that the verification of NDDC projects and programmes will not leave out the Foreign Postgraduate Scholarship.