A RESPONSE BY KADUNA DEMOCRATIC FRONT FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY Setting the Record Straight on the Overseas Scholarship Crisis By Baba Jibril ,chairman Kaduna Democratic Front. 

The Kaduna Democratic Front for Good Governance and Accountability has taken note of recent reports concerning stranded overseas scholarship beneficiaries and the subsequent attempts by detractors to blame Governor Uba Sani for a crisis he inherited. We consider it our duty to set the record straight and defend a governor who has demonstrated genuine commitment to transparency, accountability, and human capital development.

Governor Uba Sani inherited a financial mess of monumental proportions. When he assumed office, he discovered that the state was burdened with a staggering debt of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities left behind by the previous administration. Over 70% of the state’s monthly allocation is now being used to service these inherited debts—a fact that Governor Sani himself disclosed during a town hall meeting in March 2024. The detractors who now point fingers at him conveniently ignore this reality. They refuse to acknowledge that the overseas scholarship programme was a flagship initiative of the previous administration, launched without adequate long-term funding to sustain the students sent abroad.

The evidence of financial mismanagement under the previous government is overwhelming. The Kaduna State House of Assembly Ad-hoc Committee, led by Barrister Henry Danjuma Magaji, submitted a damning report on June 5, 2024, revealing significant unaccounted funds and irregularities in financial transactions. The report highlighted the diversion of N10.5 billion meant for pastoral nomadism and the construction of a milk industry for the construction of Galaxy Mall, Kaduna. It uncovered overpayments to contractors, payments to unregistered companies, and funds disbursed for work not completed, amounting to over N36.3 billion. The report also documented expenditure of over N11 billion on a non-existent MRT transportation scheme with no evidence to support it. This is the legacy that Governor Uba Sani inherited—a legacy of reckless spending and abandoned commitments, including the stranded scholars.

Governor Uba Sani has acted decisively to rescue the abandoned students. Despite the crippling debt burden, his administration has cleared over N407 million in outstanding tuition fees for the affected students. Payments were made to Debrecen University (UK/Hungary), the University of Wollongong in Dubai, the Medical University of Havana, and KIU IUIU Uganda. Many of these students had been unable to graduate, renew their visas, or access their academic records due to the unpaid fees. Governor Sani also directed the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board to liaise with all foreign universities hosting Kaduna students to identify and settle any other outstanding balances. This is not the action of a government that has abandoned its citizens—this is the action of a responsible leader cleaning up the mess left by his predecessor.

Beyond this intervention, Governor Sani has invested over N1 billion in scholarships, student loans, and educational support in just three years. His administration has spent N493.27 million on overseas scholarships for 42 students in critical fields, N425.52 million on local scholarships for indigent students, and N105 million on a student loan scheme. Kaduna has become the first state in Nigeria to operate both scholarship and student loan schemes on a broad scale. Additionally, an Executive Order reducing tuition fees by 50% across all Kaduna State-owned tertiary institutions has been signed to make higher education more affordable.

The detractors are pursuing a political agenda, not a genuine concern for the students. The same voices now crying foul are the ones who benefited from the previous administration’s culture of impunity. They are the same people who, according to reports, gathered at a Sallah feast and tacitly called on their supporters to “bring down the government of Senator Uba Sani” because he allowed the legislative arm of government to work for the first time in over eight years. They are uncomfortable with accountability, uncomfortable with transparency, and uncomfortable with a governor who refuses to interfere with the work of the House of Assembly. Their criticism is not about the welfare of the students—it is about political survival and the fear of exposure.

The Kaduna Democratic Front stands firmly with Governor Uba Sani and the people of Kaduna State. We commend the Governor for running an open government, for regular consultations with stakeholders through town hall meetings, and for his commitment to human capital development despite the enormous financial constraints he inherited. We also commend the Kaduna State House of Assembly for the thorough work done in unravelling the financial atrocities committed against the state, despite blackmails and threats from beneficiaries of the financial heist.

We call on the Governor to implement relevant sections of the Assembly’s report that fall under his purview and to officially forward the findings to relevant anti-corruption agencies so they can swing into action and recover our resources. The people of Kaduna deserve justice, and those who looted the state must be held accountable.

We also call on the good people of Kaduna to see through the lies of the detractors. Governor Uba Sani did not create this crisis—he inherited it, and he is solving it. The proof is in the payments made, the investments committed, and the systems being built to ensure that no student is ever abandoned again.

The Kaduna Democratic Front for Good Governance and Accountability remains committed to truth, justice, and the welfare of all Kaduna citizens. We stand with Governor Uba Sani. We stand with the students. And we stand with accountability.

Jibril writes from Kaduna