TheCable

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM),  has asked the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to pay the allowances, tuition fees and other incentives of students on scholarship scheme.

In a statement, Dabiri-Erewa said as a matter of urgency, NDDC should intervene by promptly paying other incentives of students on the scholarship scheme to guarantee their stay and education in the UK.

She said last month, she wrote a letter to Godswill Akpabio, minister of the Niger Delta affairs, drawing his attention to the plight of the students that are on scholarship.

“The commission counts on the minister’s assurances that all outstanding payments to affected students will be made,” she said.

“At the moment, there have been persistent calls by the students for urgent intervention.

“The deadline for payment of the fees of some of the students have expired or about to expire, non payment of their allowances have
turned many of them to virtually beggars.”

Dabiri-Erewa appealed to the Niger Delta Ministry and the NDDC to intervene urgently.

The commission had been involved in a controversy over the alleged mismanagement of resources.

While President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a forensic audit of NDDC from 2001 till date, the national assembly probed the interim management committee of the commission over misappropriation of funds running into billions.