The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ilorin Zonal Office has commenced investigations into allegation of one hundred and fifty million naira (150million naira) bursary fraud made against some management staff of Kwara State Scholarship Board.
In a statement released by the anti-graft agency, the commission stated that as part of the investigation, its officials have interrogated officials of the State Scholarship Board, including the Chairperson, Hajia Fatimoh Yusuf, The Executive Secretary, Mr Fatai Lamidi and the Board’s Accountant, Mr Stephen Ajewole, among others.
The commission added that they have gathered that the Kwara State Government in 2017 and 2018 released the sum of one hundred and fifty million naira as bursary allowance for ten thousand students in various tertiary institutions who are indigenes of Kwara State through the Scholarship Board.
In addition, the Commission stated that they also gathered that the board did not pay up to four thousand Students but fraudulently converted the balance to personal use. The Commission said:
“Names of students in various higher institutions of learning allegedly appeared as beneficiaries of bursary allowances at the Kwara State Scholarship Board but never received the money.
In the course of investigation , the students who sighted their names, matriculation numbers and signature became very angry, insisting that their signatures were forged.
They claimed not to have been the original beneficiaries of the controversial bursary allowance despite their particulars on the scholarship board documents”.
“The officials of the board had earlier told the operatives of the anti graft body that the students were issued cheques but the Commission discovered that only few beneficiaries received cash payment”.