Ganduje offsets N660m unpaid scholarship allowances

Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has offset N660m unpaid scholarship allowances which he inherited from his predecessor, Dr Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, the Executive Secretary, Kano State Scholarship Board, Professor Fatima Muhammad, said the payment of allowances was stopped in the state since 2011.

Professor Fatima said the Kwankwaso administration had not paid any scholarship allowances to Kano students studying in various institutions across the country.

She, however, said the present government had paid N360m to 24,901 internal students for the 2012/2013 academic session and N300m to 23,989 students for the 2013/2014 academic session respectively.

Fatima said the payment of allowances to the 23,989 students would commence today (Thursday) and be completed within two weeks.

She said the beneficiaries were currently studying in 15 universities, colleges of education and polytechnics across the country.

The executive secretary added that arrangements were in the pipeline for the payment of similar allowances to eligible students for the 2014/2015 academic session. Prof. Fatima said that Kano state government would also pay a sum of N5, 642,800.00 as 10 per cent of students’ union’s dues to the National Association of Kano State Students.

She said Kano state government had equally paid a total of N60m to Al-Qalam University, Katsina for the Kano state indigene students.