Former Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki has congratulated 71 students in four tertiary institutions in Kwara State who benefitted from the annual scholarship programme of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Foundation (ABSF) for the 2024/2025 academic session.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Saraki expressed happiness that the foundation’s manager completed the process of selecting the beneficiaries on time and released the school fees directly to the four tertiary institutions whose students benefitted from the second phase of the scholarship programme for the 2023/2024 academic session.
The 71 students were selected from Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa (14 beneficiaries), Kwara State College of Education, Oro (six students), Kwara State School of Nursing Sciences, Oke Ode (31 students), and Federal Polytechnic, Offa, (20 students).
“I am happy that the selection process was verifiable as the chairman, a senior university lecturer, explained to me at the weekend.
“The process of paying the school fees directly to the bank accounts of the institutions attended by beneficiaries would also help to achieve and promote accountability, transparency, and promptness in the execution of the scholarship scheme,” Saraki said.
The former Senate President hailed members of the Education Committee of the ABS Foundation for improving the scholarship process after the maiden edition, which was implemented at the Kamaldeen University, Ilorin, in 2023.
In the first edition, 100 students of the new institution were granted four and five-year scholarships with N200 million immediately released to the institution.
A statement by Yusuph Olaniyonu of Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office said the ex-Senate President expressed happiness that the new beneficiaries were selected from institutions in Kwara South.
According to him, the exercise fulfilled his promise that after the award of scholarship to students of Kamaldeen University in Ilorin, many of whom are from Kwara Central, other zones in Kwara State will also benefit from the award.
Saraki stressed that as the scholarships had been awarded successfully in Kwara South, he had directed the ABSF Committee on Education to begin the process of awarding scholarships to students of higher institutions in Kwara North.
After this, the former Senate President said, the opportunity would be extended to institutions in the North Central Zone of the country and two nearby states to the zone.
