After the revelation that 24 out of the 36 states of the Federation were excluded from the Special Presidential Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and Development, some members of the House of Representatives have kicked against it.
A meeting between the House Committee on Education and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, on the issue was stormy on Thursday when members observed that no candidate made the list from 24 states.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Aminu Suleiman, who reeled out some of the beneficiaries, said the top gainers were Ogun (17); Osun (15); Delta (9); Imo (7); Anambra (7); Enugu (7); Oyo (7); Lagos (5); Ondo (5) and Rivers (4).
Suleiman added that all the states in the North-Central put together, had seven slots.
“We are concerned that 24 states of the Federation are excised from enjoying this right.
“So many states recorded zero slots; this is unacceptable to us”, he stated.
But in his defence, Okojie explained that the scheme was driven purely by “merit” and not on federal character as insinuated by the Rep members.
He also told the committee that one of the criteria for qualification was that a beneficiary must be a first class science graduate.
