Management of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has embarked on verification exercise and thereafter, will pay all outstanding foreign scholarship claims within the shortest period.
Executive Director, Projects, of NDDC, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, who disclosed this at a meeting in London, the UK office of Clearpoint Communications Limited, the Commission’s international media management consultants, on Monday with representatives of the Commission’s scholars in the United Kingdom; hinted that the obvious discrepancies, coupled with the fact that 50 of those awarded the scholarships in 2019 did not travel out for their studies prompted the commision to embark on verifying the scholarship awards.
However, Dr Ojougboh highlighted the reasons behind the delays in payment of the scholarships which includes: The fight by those opposed to Mr President’s forensic audit of the Commission which distracted the management from working for at least two months.
The sudden death of the then Executive Director, Finance and Administration, the late Chief Ibanga Etang, in May 2020, which the Commission needed to wait for a replacement to be able to access its funds in its domiciliary account at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and lots more.
According to him, the verification exercise will involve the registration of all scholars on a new portal, custom built for the Commission and the confirmation of the claims with the universities of study; adding that scholars had appealed to the Commission to pay those who were left out in the last payment exercise, few months ago.
The NDDC team also included Mrs Idara Akpabio and Mr Godson Ideozu, managing director of Marg Education International Limited, the Commission’s consultants.
The scholars were represented by Gobo Iyowuna, Kingsley Omokaro and Kayode Olugbemi.
