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The Federal Government has called reports that it abandoned about 19 postgraduate students who were on scholarships under the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, unfounded and malicious.
Murphy Ganagana, Special Assistant on Media to SAPND/Coordinator PAP, in a statement on Sunday, said the report, which allegedly has been linked to a statement by one Abilo Franz, is nothing but a perversion of facts devised to arm-twist the Amnesty Office into taking responsibility for what it does not owe them.
Ganagana stated further that the Amnesty Office initially funded 50 students to the People’s Friendship University, Moscow, mainly for Bachelors Degree programmes in March 2011, and by June 2016, 24 students were remaining with 21 of them having completed and graduated with good results.
He referred to a letter dated August 8, 2016, from the Amnesty Office, which formally notified them that the payment of their fees and stipends had ceased with the disbursement of the June/July In-Training Allowances (ITA).
This followed their graduation ceremonies, which took place in June 2016.
They were, as a result, required to inform the Office of the Special Adviser within ten (10) days of receiving the letter, and specify their intended date of return to Nigeria, to ease the issuance of their flight tickets.
He said that instead of complying, the affected students chose to continue on to postgraduate programmes, maybe, with the hope of some aid from the Amnesty Office.
Adding that their claim to receiving verbal approval of sponsorship from General Boroh, former Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta to continue their postgraduate programmes is baseless, as public funds are not spent on just verbal statements.
The students have also been encouraged to show proof of a formal pledge or endorsement by the Amnesty Office for their postgraduate studies.