The Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Hajia HIndatu Abdullahi, on Thursday said the Federal Government has approved N400 million for the payment of upkeep allowances of Nigerian students on foreign scholarships.
Abdullahi who made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen in Abuja attributed the delay to non-release of capital allowance and the change in government which delayed the release of capital allocation for 2015.
She explained that the upkeep allowance of the scholars did not come as overhead allocation but capital allocation.
According to her, the allowance payable to the scholars outside the country is from January to December and it is calculated and captured in the budget every year.
She said that the plight of the students was being taken seriously, adding that “we just have an approval of about N400 million, we are now working with the Federal Ministry of Finance to obtain it.
“After that, we will head to the Budget Office and the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure that the money is remitted as soon as possible to the missions. In terms of the paperwork, we have concluded; we want to pay something so that their hardship will be minimized.”
Abdullahi said the entitlements were being worked out from January to December, adding that in 2014, the students got all allowances for the year between July and August.
The acting permanent secretary said that if there was any delay in the release of capital allocation, it would affect scholars’ upkeep allowances.
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